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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Feb 1996, 417-423, Vol 34, No. 2
J Mellor, EA Walsh, LE Prescott, LM Jarvis, F Davidson, PL Yap and P Simmonds
Previous surveys of the prevalences of genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
in different populations have often used genotyping assays based upon
analysis of amplified sequences from the 5' noncoding region (5'NCR), such
as restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) or hybridization with
type-specific probes (e.g., InnoLipa). Although highly conserved, this
region contains several type-specific nucleotide polymorphisms that allow
major genotypes 1 to 6 to be reliably identified. Recently, however, novel
HCV variants found in Vietnam and Thailand that are distantly related to
the type 6a genotype (type 6 group) by phylogenetic analysis of coding
regions of the genome often have sequences in the 5'NCR that are similar or
identical to those of type 1 and could therefore not be identified by an
assay of sequences in this region. We developed a new genotyping assay
based upon RFLP of sequences amplified from the more variable core region
to investigate their distribution elsewhere in southeast (SE) Asia. Among
108 samples from blood donors in seven areas that were identified as type 1
by RFLP in the 5'NCR, type 6 group variants were found in Thailand (7 from
28 samples originally identified as type 1) and Burma (Myanmar) (1 of 3)
but were not found in Hong Kong (n = 43), Macau (n = 8), Taiwan (n = 6),
Singapore (n = 2), or Malaysia (n = 18). Although this small survey
suggests a relatively limited distribution for type 6 group variants in SE
Asia, larger studies will be required to explore their distribution in
other geographical regions and the extent to which their presence would
limit the practical usefulness of 5'NCR-based genotyping assays for
clinical or epidemiological purposes.
Copyright © 1996 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Survey of type 6 group variants of hepatitis C virus in Southeast Asia by using a core-based genotyping assay
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
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