Hepatitis B virus genotypes and subgenotypes in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey

ABSTRACT

To determine the hepatitis B virus [HBV] genotypes and subgenotypes in patients with HBV infection in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey. One hundred and thirty-seven patients' samples collected over 5 years [January 2005 to January 2010] at Farabi Hospital in Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey were included in the study. All patients were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] and HBV DNA. The HBV genotypes were determined by the polymerase chain reaction - restriction fragment length polymorphism [PCR-RFLP] method using an amplified segment of the pre-S region of HBV. One hundred and twenty-five of the 137 HBV samples [91.3%] were identified as genotype D using the PCR-RFLP method. Twelve isolates had undefined patterns, 122 of the 125 samples [97.6%] were determined as subgenotype D2, 2 [1.6%] were subgenotype D1, and one [0.8%] was subgenotype D-del. Similar findings in the other parts of the Turkey, the predominant patterns of HBV prevailing among patients in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey were of genotype D and subgenotype D2.