Distribution of three major hepatitis C virus genotypes in Italy. A multicentre study of 49 5 patients with chronic hepatitis C

Abstract

Different genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been shown to have distinct geographical distribution and to associate with variable clinical features. To evaluate their role in chronic hepatitis in Italian patients, we studied 495 consecutive cases with chronic hepatitis C seen in nine sentinel centres homogeneously distributed over Italy. HCV genotyping was carried out using a dot-blot hybridization assay with genotype-specific probes. Four hundred and eleven patients were viraemic and could be evaluated: 57% were found to be infected with HCV-1, 31% with HCV-2, 8% with HCV-3, 1% showed mixed infection and 3% were ascribed to HCV-2b or HCV-4 by direct sequencing. Geographical distribution showed discrete territorial variations. A history of drug addiction was commoner in patients infected with HCV-3. There were no significant differences in activity of liver disease among different HCV genotypes but the response to interferon therapy was reduced in patients infected with HCV-1 compared to HCV-2 or HCV-3.

Liver cell apoptosis in chronic hepatitis C correlates with histological but not biochemical activity or serum HCV-RNA levels

“…HCV genotype was determined using a previously standardized method. 23 Briefly, polymerase chain reaction amplified products of the 5Ј untranslated region were spotted in parallel on nylon filters and hybridized with type-specific probes derived from the three major genotypes (genotype 1, 2, and 3) 24 which were labeled with dUTP fluoresceine. After washing under stringent conditions, the reaction was detected by an enhanced chemiluminescent method (Amersham International plc, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, UK) on autoradiographic films.…”

HCV infection in northeastern Brazil: unexpected high prevalence of genotype 3a and absence of African genotypes

“…In clinical evaluations, genotype 3a is associated with mild disease and a better response to antiviral therapy, while genotype 1, especially subtype 1b, is frequently associated with more severe disease; progression to cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma, and high resistance to antiviral treatment (18) . In epidemiological analyses, genotype 1 largely predominates in the West, with genotype 3 usually found in association with intravenous drug abuse in Europe and the United States (7,14) . In Africa and the Middle East and Asia other genotypes such as 4 , 5 and 6 have been observed; other than genotype 4, which is associated with low response to antiviral treatment (11,16,19) , their responses to interferon are unknown.…”

Typing of Hepatitis C Virus by a New Method Based on Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism

“…We have used our RT-PCR RFLP method to type sera collected from random positive subjects (group 1) and intravenous drug users (group 2), two groups similar in number, but distinct for demographic and epidemiological characteristics, such as risk factors, life style, gender and age. Our method was able to discriminate viral genotypes of newer and older acquisition that are circulating in Northern Italy [8]. Namely, subtypes 1a, 1b and 2c were the most frequently detected in group 1 (71.6%), and subtypes 1a and 3a in group 2 (86.5%).…”

“…Intervirology 1999;42: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] with respect to previously developed RFLPs [1,[22][23][24] and to the widely used hybridisation method INNOLiPA. This result was confirmed by sequencing all of the ten 2a/ 2c cases that had come to our observation.…”

“…Prevalence of HCV infection varies in different areas of the world, and striking geographical differences exist in the distribution of viral types [7][8][9]. Extensive work, based on RNA sequence homology of many 'isolates', has led to classify HCV into six major viral types [10], each including several subtypes.…”