Molecular characterization of the hepatitis B virus in autochthonous and endogenous populations in the Western Brazilian Amazon

• Autor(a) principal: Dias,Ádila Liliane Barros
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Oliveira,Cintia Mara da Costa, Castilho,Márcia da Costa, Silva,Maria do Socorro Pontes da, Braga,Wornei Silva Miranda
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822012000100003
• topic: Hepatitis B virus; Genotypes; Epidemiology; Amazon; Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious public health issue worldwide. Hepatitis B virus is classified into eight genotypes, varying from A to H, with distinct geographical distributions. In Brazil, the most frequent genotypes are A, D, and F. METHODS: This study aimed to characterize the HBV genotypes in cases of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis D virus (HDV) co-infections in an endemic area in the Western Brazilian Amazon. We analyzed 86 serum samples reactive for HBsAg from indigenous and non-indigenous populations obtained from previous serological surveys. RESULTS: Of the 86 reactive serum samples, 39 were found to be HBV-DNA-positive by semi-nested PCR. The genotypes were established by sequencing the amplified S gene region. We obtained 20 sequences classified into three genotypes: A, D, and F. Genotype A was the most frequent (60%), followed by D (35%) and F (5%). CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of the HBV genotypes reflected the pattern of historical occupation of the region.