Detection of HBV genotypes of tumor tissues and serum by a fluorescence polarization assay in north-western China's hepatocellular carcinoma patients

A Recent Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Genotypes and Subtypes in Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and Aim: Despite introducing the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine, the incidence of the Hepatitis B virus globally is still a major health concern. This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to provide detailed information on the prevalence of HBV genotypes and subtypes in circulation in Asia. Methods: A systematic search for articles describing the prevalence of HBV genotypes and subtypes in Asia was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Results: Our search returned 207 eligible articles involving 49,279 genotypes and 7457 subtypes representing 28 Asian countries. A meta-analysis was performed on our eligible studies using the Random effect Model. The pooled prevalence of HBV genotypes showed that genotype C (30.9%) (95% CI, 27.5–34.5%; I2 = 97.57%; p < 0.001) was the most common HBV genotype in Asia, followed by genotype B (17.8%) (95% CI, 15.5–20.4%; I2 = 97.26%; p < 0.001) and genotype D (15.4%) (95% CI, 11.8–19.8%). Vietnam had the highest prevalence of genotype B, Lebanon had the highest prevalence of genotypes C, and Jordan had the highest prevalence of genotype D. There was variation in genotypic prevalence with respect to the target genes for HBV genotyping. Reverse dot blot hybridization had the highest estimate of genotypes B and C. HBV subtype C2 (40.0%) (95% CI, 33.3–47.0) is the most prevalent HBV subtype. Conclusion: Evidence from this study reveals that HBV genotypes C and B are the most dominant HBV genotypes in Asia, and HBV subtype C2 is more endemic in Asia.

Hepatitis B virus genotypes and genome characteristics in China

AIM: To analyze the hepatitis B virus (HBV) characters in China, as well as the correlation between several HBV mutation and hepatitis symptoms.

METHODS: A total of 1148 HBV genome sequences from patients throughout China were collected via the National Center For Biotechnology Information database (information including: genotype, territory and clinical status). HBV genotypes were classified by a direct reference from the Genbank sequence annotation, phylogenetic tree and online software analysis (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/projects/genotyping/formpage.cgi). The phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the neighbor-joining method by MEGA5.0 software. HBV sequences were grouped based on phylogenetic tree and the distance between the groups was calculated by using the computer between group mean distance methods. Seven hundred and twelve HBV sequences with clear annotation of clinical symptoms were selected to analyses the correlation of mutation and clinical symptoms. Characteristics of sequences were analyzed by using DNAStar and BioEdit software packages. The codon usage bias and RNA secondary structures analysis were performed by RNAdraw software. Recombination analysis was performed by using Simplot software.

RESULTS: In China, HBV genotype C was the predominant in Northeastern, genotype B was predominant in Central Southern areas, genotype B and C were both dominant in Southwestern areas, and the recombinant genotype C/D was predominant in Northwestern areas. C2 and B2 were identified as the two major sub-genotypes, FJ386674 might be a putative sub-genotype as B10. The basal core promoter double mutation and pre-C mutation showed various significant differences between hepatitis symptoms. In addition to ATG, many other HBV initiation codons also exist. HBV has codon usage bias; the termination codon of X, C and P open reading frames (ORF) were TAA, TAG, and TGA, respectively. The major stop codons of S-ORF were TAA (96.45%) and TGA (83.60%) in B2 and C2 subtype, respectively.

CONCLUSION: This study recapitulated the epidemiology of HBV in China, and the information might be meaningful critical for the future prevention and therapy of HBV infections.

A SNaPshot assay for the rapid and simple detection of hepatitis B virus genotypes

A simple technique for the identification of common genotypes of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains to be identified. The present study was conducted to establish such a methodology. Four plasmids of genotypes A-D and 123 clinical serum specimens of HBV-infected patients were genotyped. HBV genotypes would be detected successfully when the HBV genotype reached a viral load of 1 × 10³ copies/ml or the BC genotype mixed samples reached a 5% level. The lower limit of detection of HBV DNA in serum specimens was determined to be 2.14×10² IU/ml. The assay sensitivity and specificity were 100% and the consistency was demonstrated to reach as high as 90.24 and 100% compared with that of the DNA sequencing and cloning. The frequencies of the genotypes B, C, BC, BD and BCD were found to be 65.0, 23.6, 7.3, 3.3 and 0.8%, respectively. The accuracy of detection of the mixed infections was also higher using the rapid and simple SNaPshot method compared with that achieved with the DNA sequencing methods. The results of the present study indicated that the SNaPshot technique accurately distinguishes the HBV genotypes A-D and is able to be readily applied as a monitoring tool in HBV prognosis and treatment.