Genotypic Study of Hepatitis Type B in Al-Diwaniya Province, Iraq

Hepatitis b virus (HbV) with its possible serious sequels of liver cancer and cirrhosis is a well recognized worldwide health problem. These problems are particularly occurring as complications of the chronic form of the disease. Relying on the sequence homogeneity, there are ten HbV genotypes (A-J). The aim of current study was to establish the main genotypes of HbV in clinical cases from Al-Diwaniyah City/middle of Iraq.

A total of 80 blood samples were collected from patients clinically suspected to have HbV hepatitis and diagnosed basically as Hbs Ag positive. The study sample included 59 males and 21 females with age range of (12–75 years). Nested PCR assay was performed for HbV genotyping.

Recorded results for HBV DNA were as follows: 33(41.25%) samples were positive for HBV DNA while 47 (58.75%) samples were negative for HBV.

Nested PCR results done on the positive samples for HbV genotyping showed that genotype E was the only single genotype at a percentage of (3%), while most of the samples showed mixtures of more than one genotype as follows: A+E (3%), C+D+E (12.12%), B+C+D+E (15.15%), A+D (3%), A+B+C+D+E (18.18%), A+B+D+ E (18.18), B+D+E (3%), A+C+D+E (3%), B+C+D (6%), A+B+D (3%), A+B+C+D (6%), D+E (6%). Genotype F was not found in any sample in this study. There was no significant difference in distribution of genotypes between males and females (P = 0.369).