ABSTRACT
The present report is a review article on various aspects of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes and their subtypes. HCV has six genotypes and several subtypes showing important epidemiological and clinical implications. The information based on previous studies and presented through this article highlight the origin, classification and causes of genetic diversity, global status, detection assays, pathogenicity and response to treatment of HCV-genotypes. The six genotypes differ in 30-35% of nucleotide sites over the complete genome. The difference in genomic composition of sub-types of genotype is usually found to be 20-25%. The variability remains more frequent in structural genes as compared to non-structural or untranslated genes. Both genotypes and their sub-types show a varied prevalence globally and raise several issues related to their transmission and treatment of HCV-infection. All this information has a great significance while planning future strategies for eradication and therapeutic management of HCV. In addition, these reports produce a further scope for more studies to unravel the mystery behind HCV-genotypes and formulate guidelines to resolve this public health problem noted worldwide.
