Novel hepatitis B virus genotype A subtyping assay that distinguishes subtype Aa from Ae and its application in epidemiological studies

Hasegawa, Izumi ; Tanaka, Yasuhito ; Kramvis, Anna ; Kato, Takanobu ; Sugauchi, Fuminaka ; Acharya, Subrat K. ; Orito, Etsuro ; Ueda, Ryuzo ; Kew, Michael C. ; Mizokami, Masashi (2004) Novel hepatitis B virus genotype A subtyping assay that distinguishes subtype Aa from Ae and its application in epidemiological studies Journal of Virology, 78 (14). pp. 7575-7581. ISSN 0022-538X

[img]
Preview
PDF - Publisher Version
653kB

Official URL: http://jvi.asm.org/cgi/content/abstract/78/14/7575

Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JVI.78.14.7575-7581.2004

Abstract

The eight genotypes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) have different geographical distributions, virological characteristics, and clinical manifestations. A unique subtype of HBV genotype A (HBV/A) was reported in sub-Saharan Africa, raising the possibility that patients infected with this subtype (HBV/Aa ["a" for African and Asian]) may have different clinical outcomes than other HBV/A isolates (HBV/Ae ["e" for European]). Comparison between 30 HBV/Aa and 30 HBV/Ae isolates indicated that almost all HBV/Ae isolates had G at nucleotide (nt) 1809 and C at nt 1812, whereas HBV/Aa isolates had T1809/T1812. Taking advantage of these two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), a novel subtype-specific PCR assay in the X/precore/core region was developed. This assay was combined with a restriction fragment length polymorphism assay using BglII in a different region (nt 1984 to 1989), which has a SNP distinguishing HBV/Aa from HBV/Ae, resulting in 100% specificity for the combined assay. Application of the subtyping assay using sera from 109 paid donors in the United States indicated significantly different distributions of HBV/A subtypes among races; African-Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics had HBV/Ae, whereas Asians had mainly HBV/Aa, suggesting that the HBV/Aa isolates may have been imported by recent immigration from Asia. In conclusion, the specificity and sensitivity of the combined subtyping assay were confirmed, and its usefulness was demonstrated in a practical context.

Item Type:Article
Source:Copyright of this article belongs to American Society for Microbiology.
ID Code:161
Deposited On:17 Sep 2010 07:56
Last Modified:16 May 2016 11:26

Repository Staff Only: item control page