Identification of a Novel Genotype of Hepatitis G Virus in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Hepatitis G virus (HGV) isolates obtained from 20 Myanmarese and 10 Vietnamese subjects were analyzed. A cluster of isolates not belonging to any known genotype of HGV was found in five Myanmarese subjects and three Vietnamese subjects by phylogenetic analysis, and we classified this new genotype as type 4. These results revealed that the HGV genome can be classified into at least four major genotypes.

GBV-C/HGV genotypes: Proposed nomenclature for genotypes 1-5

“…DNA distance analyses showed that the South African isolates are distinct from any other group [Tucker et al, 1999]. Although the Vietnam/Myanmar isolates are more closely related to genotype 3 than any other, they appear sufficiently distinct for separate genotype grouping [Naito et al, 1999].…”

“…The GB virus-C and hepatitis G virus (hereinafter GBV-C/HGV) have been characterized as variants of a positive-strand, RNA flavivirus initially thought to be associated with hepatitis [Simons et al, 1995;Yoshiba et al, 1995;Linnen et al, 1996;Heringlake et al, 1996]. This serves as a clarification note and proposal subsequent to recent papers [Naito et al, 1999;Tucker et al, 1999], containing conflicting nomenclature for GBV-C/HGV genotypes.…”

“…Subsequently, two groups published data on populations not studied previously: Myanmar and Vietnam [Naito et al, 1999], and South Africa [Tucker et al, 1999]. Both publications presented evidence suggesting the presence of a "4th genotype."…”

“…It is proposed that the following genotype nomenclature be adopted for clarity: genotypes 1-3 remain as per previous publications, whereas the Southeast Asian isolates [Naito et al, 1999] be known as genotype 4, and the South African isolates [Tucker et al, 1999] as genotype 5.…”

Frequency and genotype of GB virus C among Iranian patients infected with HIV

“…GBV-C is classified into six major genotypes, type 1-6 [Muerhoff et al, 1996[Muerhoff et al, , 2006Tucker and Smuts, 2001;Van der Bij et al, 2005]. The genotypes tend to follow a geographical distribution patterns: type 1 predominates in West Africa, type 2 in Europe and the United States, type 3 in parts of Asia, type 4 in Southeast Asia, and type 5 in South Africa [Fukushi et al, 1996;Mukaide et al, 1997;Naito et al, 1999;Tucker and Smuts, 2001;Hattori et al, 2003]. One study identified a novel group of GBV-C sequences among individuals living in Indonesia [Handajani et al, 2000].…”