ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The geographical prevalence of the genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is variable, with which the response to therapy is associated. The HCV genotypes based on PCR and serological genotypes (serotypes) are known to be highly correlated with each other. In spite of the ease of the test, there was no reported data of HCV serotypes in Korean. So, the serotypes in Korean was evaluated for the construction of the basic data. METHODS: The HCV serotypes were tested by Murex HCV serotyping 1-6 Assay kit in persons with normal or high ALT. At the same time, anti-HCV and HCV RNA were detected. RESULTS: Positive rates of anti-HCV were 6.0% in persons with high ALT, with increasing tendency in aging process, which were higher than 1.4% in normal persons. HCV RNA was positive in 49% of persons with anti-HCV positive. The serotypes were detectable in 92.4% of persons with HCV RNA positive, of which type 1 and 2 were 51.6% and 40.8%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serotype 1 and 2 were the major type in Korean, which data would be useful for the further study on the correlation of the serotypes with the genotypes and the relationship of the serotypes and the responses to therapy.