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Diversity of hepatitis C virus genotype 1b in Buenos Aires, Argentina: description of a new cluster associated with response to treatment
Author(s) -
Di Lello Federico,
Garcia Gabriel,
Kott Verónica,
Sookoian Silvia,
Campos Rodolfo
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.21112
Subject(s) - viral quasispecies , virology , genotype , ribavirin , biology , ns5a , cluster (spacecraft) , hepatitis c virus , population , virus , hepacivirus , genetics , medicine , gene , environmental health , computer science , programming language
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b is the most prevalent in Argentina. As observed in most HCV‐genotype 1b described previously worldwide, the population analyzed in this work is growing at exponential rate. Ten out of 22 samples tested comprise a well‐defined cluster. This new cluster appears to be highly susceptible to therapy with non‐pegylated interferon plus ribavirin (80% rate of sustained response). The comparative analysis of amino acid sequences yielded a characteristic pattern for responder samples defined by amino acids S75, V147, V158 (Core region) and AC2217‐8 (NS5A region). In conclusion, this study describes the epidemic spread of genotype 1b in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and shows the emergence of a new cluster that would result from a founder effect of an unusual sequence or a quasispecies variant that evolved through the time. This cluster, which appears to be highly susceptible to therapy, suggests that the virus itself might be more important than individual patient characteristics when responding to treatment. J. Med. Virol. 80:619–627, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.