ABSTRACT
Background: Hepatitis C virus [HCV] is one of the main causative factors of liver disease which can lead to chronic hepatitis C infection in 80% of cases. HCV genotypes have a special worldwide geographic distribution. The goal of the present study was to detect HCV genotypes in patients with anti-HCV positive titers in Golestan Province, Iran
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 95 positive HCV samples as detected by RIBA were evaluated. Viral RNA was extracted with a Roche extraction kit and the Fermentase cDNA kit Random hexamer primers was used for viral genomic cDNA synthesis. PCR was performed on all samples by a general pair of primers. Second-step PCR was done with specific primers, and the results were obtained following electrophoresis in 1.5% agarose gel and ethidium bromide staining in documentation gel
Results: General primer PCR revealed 91 positive samples. Assessment of 77 samples determined that the following genotypes were present: 1 and 3 [1a [19.5%], 1b [19.5%], 3a [15.6%], 3b [24.7%]], 2a [2.6%], 4 [7.8%]. The remaining samples were a mixture of genotypes 1 and 3 [6.5%]
Conclusion: The ingmost prevalent genotypes found were types 1 and 3 in Golestan Province. This distribution pattern differed from other areas in Iran, however genotype 4 was in accordance with other studies. Genotype 2 was only reported in this study and a study in Tehran. Thus, additional, larger studies of HCV genotypes should be performed for further analysis of genotypic distribution patterns