Genotype distribution of the GB virus C in citizens of Säo Paulo City, Brazil

ABSTRACT

There has been several studies worldwide on phylogenetics and genotype distribution of the GB-virus C / Hepatitis G virus (GBV-C/HGV). However, in their great majority, those investigations were based on some epidemiologically linked group, rather than on a representative sampling of the general population. The present is a continuation of the first study in Brazil with such a population; it addresses the GBV-C/HGV phylogenetics and genotype distribution based on samples identified among more than 1,000 individuals of the city of Säo Paulo. For this purpose, a 728 bp fragment of the 5 non-coding region (5 NCR) of the viral genome, from 24 isolates, was sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis. Genotypes 1, 2a and 2b were found at 8.3 percent (2/24), 50 percent (12/24) and 41.7 percent (10/24), respectively. In conclusion Säo Paulo displays a genotype distribution similar to the published data for other States and Regions of Brazil, endorsing the notion that types 1 and 2 would have entered the country with African and European people, respectively, since its earliest formation