Genotyping of hepatitis C virus in Changchun Region, China and relationship between HCV genotype and severity of liver diseases.

Objective To analyze the distribution of hepatitis C virus(HCV)genotype in Changchun Region,China and its relationship to HCV RNA content as well as infectious route and degree of liver disease.Methods The serum specimens from 82 anti-HCV patients were determined for HCV RNA by fluorescent quantitative PCR,and analyzed for HCV genotype by PCR using type-specific primers,based on which the relationship of genotype to infectious route,HCV RNA content and degree of liver disease was analyzed.Results Of the 78 HCV RNA-positive serum specimens,4(5.1%)were identified as genotype 1a,38(48.7%)as 1b,26(33.3%)as 2a,9(11.6%)as 2b,and 1(1.3%)as 3a.No mixed infection of HCV of various genotypes was observed.No sig-nificant difference was observed in the distributions of HCV genotypes in the patients with blood-transmitted and non-blood-transmitted hepatitis C.The RNA content of HCV of genotype 1b was significantly higher than that of genotype 2a.However,the distribution of genotypes showed significant difference in the patients with liver diseases at various degrees caused by HCV infection.The propor-tions of genotype 1b in patients with chronic hepatitis C,liver cirthosis and liver cancer were significantly higher than those of other genotypes.Conclusion The epidemic HCV strains in Changchun Region were of genotypes 1b and 2a.No significant relationship was observed between HCV genotype and infectious route.The HCV content of genotype 1b was significantly higher than that of genotype 2a.HCV genotype showed a certain relationship to the severity of chronic hepatitis C and the onsets of liver cirthosis and liver cancer.