Hepatitis C virus genotypes in a northeastern area of Brazil
Abstract
We used a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to obtain the genotypes of circulating hepatitis C virus (HCV) in patients from a Gastro-Hepatology Unit in the city of Salvador (Bahia State) in northeastern Brazil. Viral RNA was detected in 83 (65.4%) of 127 anti-HCV seropositive serum samples. Positivity was significantly associated with alterations in levels of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase (P < 0.05). Genotyping of HCV was performed by RT-PCR using genotype-specific primers from the core region: 24.1% were infected with subtype 1a, 38.6% with 1b, 3.6% with 2, 21.7% with 3a, and 12.0% with a mixed genotype. There was no difference in genotype distribution when compared with results from other Brazilian locations. Surprisingly, the high frequency of genotype 3 in Brazilian samples continues to be different from that reported around the world and warrants further investigatio- info:eu-repo/semantics/article
- info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
- Hepacivirus/gen??tica
- Hepatite C/virologia
- Adolescente
- Adulto
- Idoso
- Alanina Transaminase/sangue
- Aspartato Aminotransferases/sangue
- Southern Blotting
- Brasil/epidemiologia
- Primers do DNA/qu??mica
- DNA Viral/qu??mica
- Feminino
- Gen??tipo
- Hepacivirus/qu??mica
- Hepacivirus/classifica????o
- Hepatite C/sangue
- Hepatite C/epidemiologia
- Humanos
- T??cnicas Imunoenzim??ticas
- Masculino
- Meia-Idade
- RNA Viral/qu??mica
- RNA Viral/qu??mica
- Rea????o em Cadeia da Polimerase Via Transcriptase
- Estudos Soroepidemiol??gicos