Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Genotypes in the Czech Republic

Overview

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was genotyped based on sequencing and analysis of nucleotide sequencesof HBV S gene in sera samples from 176 patients with viral hepatitis B from all over the CzechRepublic. The most frequent genotype A was detected in 118 (67.1%) of the patients, followed bygenotype D found in 50 (28.4%) of the patients. Genotypes B and C were identified in 6 (3.4%) and 2(1.1%) of the patients, respectively. The incidence of genotype A statistically significantly increaseswith age. There is no statistically significant correlation between genotypes A and D and gender orlocality (region). Genotypes B and C, found mainly in South East Asia, were first detected in theCzech Republic. Detection of these genotypes in both foreigners and Czech population is suggestivenot only of import but also of transmission of these genotypes in the Czech Republic. Fylogeneticanalysis documents dissimilarity levels betweenHBVisolates. Based on theamino sequencederived,the percentages of HBV subtype determinants d (68.6%) and y (31.4%) were established. The geneS sequencing analysis proved suitable for HBV genotyping.

Key words:
hepatitis B virus – genotypes.