Determination of hepatitis C virus genotypes among HCV positive patients in Shahrekord, Iran

Hepatitis C is one of the most common causes of the liver failure and cancer and represents a major public health problem. Recent studies have focused on whether different hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes, are associated with different profiles of pathogenicity, infectivity and response to antiviral therapy. Genotyping system based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the core region with genotype-specific PCR primers for the determination of HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5a, and 6a was developed. Different genotypes have been reported in different parts of the world. Genotype 1 is difficult to treat, while genotypes 2 and 3 are easy to treat. Therefore, identification of HCV genotype in patients is necessary to begin and follow up the treatment. In this study, viral genomic of 94 patients extracted from sera were detected by nested-real time (RT) PCR. PCR products were digested with proper enzymes and studied by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The results of PCR-RFLP were as follows: 1a (54.26%), 1b (11.71%), 3a (27.66%), 2a (2.12%) and 4 (4.25%). This indicates that a high percentage of HCV infected patients.