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Cocirculation of and coinfections with hepatitis A virus subgenotypes IIIA and IB in patients from Pune, western India
Author(s) -
Chitambar Shobha,
Joshi Madhuri,
Lole Kavita,
Walimbe Atul,
Vaidya Sunil
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
hepatology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.123
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1872-034X
pISSN - 1386-6346
DOI - 10.1111/j.1872-034x.2007.00025.x
Subject(s) - virology , coinfection , polymerase chain reaction , molecular epidemiology , biology , epidemiology , genotype , hepatitis a , reverse transcriptase , hepatitis , virus , medicine , gene , genetics
Aim: During the 1990s, a changing pattern of epidemiology of hepatitis A was reported in different populations of India. The present study was undertaken to investigate the molecular epidemiology of hepatitis A virus (HAV) strains over a period of 10 years. Methods: Stool/serum samples were collected from hepatitis A patients clinically presenting acute viral hepatitis and hepatic encephalopathy. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) was performed to detect HAV‐RNA. HAV genomes were examined by sequencing PCR products of VP1/2A junction (168 bp) and RNA polymerase (116 bp) regions. Results: Subgenotype IIIA and IB were detected in 74.2% and 9.7% of specimens, respectively, while 16.1% of patients had mixed infections. Sewage samples also showed presence of both IIIA (9/10) and IB (1/10) subgenotypes. RNA polymerase region showed two clusters constituting 51.6% and 19.4% strains closer to Nor21 and HM175 strains, respectively, in clinical specimens. Three isolates appeared as discordant subgenotypes in VP1/2A and RNA polymerase regions. Conclusion: The data revealed cocirculation of and coinfection with subgenotypes IIIA and IB, with predominance of IIIA and genetic heterogeneity of HAV strains in western India.