Genotyping of hepatitis B virus and its clinical significance

OBJECTIVE To study the relationship between hepatitis B virus genotype and HBV DNA,ALT and HBeAg in patients with hepatitis B.METHODS The hepatitis B virus genotypes in 87 patients with chronic hepatitis B were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction-reverse dot blot(PCR-RDB).ALT was detected by continuous monitoring method,HBV DNA was detected by fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction and HBeAg was detected by ELISA.RESULTS A total of 58 out of 87 patients were infected with HBV strains of genotype B(66.7%),24 with genotype C(27.6%),3 with genotype B and C(3.4%),and 2(2.3%) with HBV that did not conform to any of the genotypes from B to D.Before anti-virus therapy,the level of ALT in group genotype B and C were 151.3±5.6,232.5±7.3 U/L,respectively,and the former was lower than that in latter.The level of HBV DNA in group genotype B and C were 7.3±1.0,7.6±1.1,respectively,and there was no significant difference between them.After anti-virus therapy for 6 or 12 month,the level of ALT,HBV DNA in group genotype B and C declined significantly,and the level of HBV DNA in group genotype B was lower than that in group genotype C.The changing rate of HBeAg and HBV DNA positive to negtive in group genotype B and C were 62.1%,44.8%,29.2% and 20.8%,respectively,and the first two were higher than the latter two.CONCLUSION HBV genotype B and C are the major genotypes prevalent in Guangzhou.The response to anti-virus therapy of patients with genotype B is better than genotype C,which has an higher negative rate of HBeAg.