Molecular epidemiology and genotyping of TT virus isolated from Saudi blood donors and hepatitis patients

In Saudi Arabia, the epidemiology and clinical significnance of Torque Teno virus [TTV] infection alone and in patients with hepatitis virus infections have not been determined in a single study. In this paper, we molecularly investigated the rate and genotypes of TTV infection among Saudi Arabian blood donors and patients with viral hepatitis. The effect of TTV coinfection on viral hepatitis was also examined. DNA was extracted from the sera of 200 healthy blood volunteers, 45 hepatitis B virus patients, 100 hepatitis C virus patients, 19 hepatitis G virus patients, and 56 non-A-G hepatitis patients. TTV DNA was amplified using primers derived from the ORF1 and 5'UTR regions. The alanine aminotransferase [ALT] level was determined for each specimen. Sequencing of ORF1 amplicons was carried out to investigate TTV genotypes. Using primers derived from ORF1 and 5'UTR, TTV DNA was detected in 5.5% and 50.5%, respectively, of healthy blood donors, in 2.2% and 88.8% in hepatitis B patients, in 2.0% and 70% of hepatitis C patients, in 15.8% and 100% of hepatitis G patients, in 5.4% and 12.5% of non-A-G hepatitis patients and in 4.8% and 56.4% overall. No detrimental effect of TTV coinfection in viral hepatitis patients was noted. An overall prevalence of 4.8% and 56.4% was established. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the most common genotype of TTV among Saudis is 2c. The rate of TTV infection among Saudi Arabians seems to be lower than that stated in previous reports on Saudi Arabia and in some other countries. The virus does not seem to worsen the status of those who are suffering from viral hepatitis infection

Hepatitis A in Saudi Arabia: a comparative sero-epidemiological study

To determine the prevalence of Hepatitis A Virus infection among Saudi children [1-12 years] in 1997. To compare the results with our previous study in 1989. This is a randomized community-based study involving all of the regions of Saudi Arabia. All children were tested for antibody Hepatitis A Virus immunoglobulin [IgG] class. The prevalence of anti-Hepatitis A Virus IgG among 5355 Saudi children tested ranged from 10% in Taif to 82% in Gizan regions with an overall prevalence of 25%. There is a reduction of the overall prevalence from 50.5% in 1989 to 25% in 1997. This study shows a marked decline in Hepatitis A Virus infection in Saudi children 8 years after the first study. There is an almost 50% reduction of the overall Hepatitis A Virus prevalence. This dramatic decline in Hepatitis A Virus infection among the Saudi children will lead to a later exposure of elderly population groups to the Hepatitis A Virus infection and a new preventive strategy needing to be adopted

Genotyping of hepatitis C virus isolates from Saudi patients by analysis of sequences from pcr-amplified core region of the virus genome

We investigated the genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus [HCV] among Saudi patients with chronic hepatitis C. Serum specimens from 119 native Saudi Arabian patients with chronic hepatitis C, as documented by serology and polymerase chain reaction [PCR] for HCV RNA, were used. Genotyping was performed by reverse transcription-PCR, using specific primers at the core region of HCV genome, and DNA sequencing of the resultant amplicons. It was found that the majority of samples [47.9%] belong to genotype 4, followed by subtype Ib [16.8%], and subtype la [10.1%]. Twenty samples [16.8%] were not able to be typed by our method. We confirmed the results by cloning at least one PCR amplicon from each genotype, and determining the nucleotide sequence of the clones. Our findings suggest that genotype 4 is the most common among native Saudi Arabian patients with chronic hepatitis C infection. Genotypes Ib and la were also prevalent