5 research outputs found
Nucleic Acid Sequence Analysis of Basal Core Promoter/Precore/Core Region of Hepatitis B Virus Isolated from Chronic Carriers of the Virus from Kolkata, Eastern India: Low Frequency of Mutation in the Precore Region
The aim of the present study was to characterize
the predominant hepatitis B virus (HBV) strains and
their molecular variants present in the HBV isolates of
the different genotypes found among the chronic carriers
of the virus in our community. Methods: Precore/core
and core promoter regions of HBV DNA were amplifi ed
by polymerase chain reaction and then subjected to direct
sequencing. Of the 64 hepatitis B surface antigen
(HBsAg)-positive chronic HBV carriers investigated, 44
were HBeAg negative and 20 were HBeAg positive. Results:
In addition to genotype D, which was the predominant
ge notype, 12 genotype C (18.7%) and 6 genotype
A (9.4%) were also detected. Presence of T at nt 1858 has
often been related to the development of precore stop
mutation at nt 1896, while that of C has been related to
the development of 1762–1764 double mutation. In ou