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Prevalence of restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns of hepatitis B virus compatible with genotype D in Lebanon

2004; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 23; Issue: 11 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/s10096-004-1222-5

1435-4373

Ala I. Sharara, S. Ramia, F. Ramlawi, Bilal A. Farhat, M. Bahlawan, U. Farhat, M. Alameddine, Eman Osman Mohamed Nour, Raja Sayegh, César Yaghi, H. Assi, A. Ferzli, R. Shatila,

Hepatitis C virus research

In a national study, 167 Lebanese patients with various manifestations of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection were investigated to determine the prevalence of HBV genotypes in Lebanon.The patients were seen at nine medical centers throughout the country from June 2002 to August 2003.Serum HBV DNA was detected in all cases, and the overwhelming majority of the patients (97%) were anti-HBeAg-positive.Genotyping revealed 166 samples as genotype D, while only one sample was non-typeable.Thus, genotype D seems to be the predominant HBV genotype in Lebanon and possibly in the region.Despite significant progress in vaccine development, infection with HBV remains a major health problem leading to 1-2 million deaths annually worldwide [1].A wide range of manifestations has been established for chronic HBV infection ranging from asymptomatic carriage to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma [2].Currently, HBV can be classified into seven genotypes, A through G, based on an intergroup divergence of 8% or more in the nucleotide sequence, and recently an eighth genotype, H, has been described [3].Various HBV genotypes are found in different geographic areas [4,5].Recent studies have demonstrated that individual HBV genotypes may be related to severity of liver disease and response to antiviral treatment [6].However, the results of studies on the clinical significance of HBV genotypes have not been consistent.For example, one study suggested that genotype B is associated with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma while other studies have refuted this finding [7].Moreover, almost all Asian studies on HBV genotypes and liver disease were restricted to comparing genotypes B and C, while in Europe, most patients with genotype A have chronic hepatitis while most patients with genotype D are reported to have acute hepatitis [8].Lebanon is considered to be moderately endemic for hepatitis B with an overall HBsAg carrier rate of 2.2% [9].To date, there are no data on the prevalence and clinical significance of HBV genotypes in Lebanon.Thus, the aim of this national study was to determine the prevalence of HBV genotypes and to study the association between these genotypes and the clinical status of HBV-infected patients in the Lebanese population.One hundred sixty-seven individuals (123 male, 64 female) with HBV infection were seen at nine medical centers in Lebanon and included in our cross-sectional national study between June 2002 and August 2003.