ABSTRACT
Hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. The HCV genotype has a geographic distribution and an important role in clinical and histological outcomes. This study determined HCV genotypes and their related risk factors among patients from Khuzestan Province, Southwest Iran. In a cross-sectional study, 223 patients infected with HCV who referred to Ahvaz Jundishapour University Hospitals AJSUH] and Hepatitis Clinic were enrolled. Specific and nested polymerase chain reaction [PCR] and restriction fragment length polymorphisms [RFLPs] were performed to determine viral infection and genotype analysis. Liver enzymes including ALT and AST and the correlated risk factors were also determined. The HCV genotype distribution was as follows: genotype 1a [41.7%]: genotype 1b [2.7%]; genotype 2 [4.1%]; genotype 3a [31.4%]; and genotype 4 [1.8%]. There were 42 samples [18.84%] not classified into any of the known HCV subtypes. No patient was infected with more than one genotype. HIV was found in four [1.8%] cases, of which all were intravenous drug users. Univariate analysis demonstrated an independent association of intravenous drug use [IVDU] and genotypes 1a [60.7%] and 3a [30%]. Our findings suggest that genotypes 1a and 3a are the most common ones among Iranian patients with chronic hepatitis C infection in Khuzestan Province, Southwest, Iran