Abstract
Background: GB virus C (GBV-C), also known as hepatitis G virus (HGV), is an enveloped virus with about 9,4Kb genome-length single-strand RNA. Based on similarity in genome structure with HCV, the GBV-C virus is classified as the Flaviviridae family virus. The GBV-C virus has a worldwide distribution and virus infections are common among healthy blood donors as well as among immunocompromised individuals. Previous studies showed the high GBV-C co-infection rate in hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive individuals. Based on genetic differences between the 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR) sequences of GBV-C isolates, virus is classified into seven major genotypes and in several subtypes. The distribution of GBV-C genotypes varies geographically and information is still incomplete. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency the frequency of GBV-C and the GBV-C genotypes among the HCV positive individuals in Lithuania. Methods: In this study, GBV-C RNA was isolated from serum samples of 170 patients with known HCV infection. The nested reverse transcriptase reaction was used to synthesize the complementary DNA (cDNA) and the fragment of 210 bp from 5′UTR region was amplified by nested RT PCR. The PCR products were sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis by using reference sequences from each genotype obtained from GenBank (n=46). The analysis was computed using CLC bio version 6.6.5 and MEGA 5.2. Results: Among 170 HCV positive patients, 36 (21.17%) were positive for GBV-C. Based on phylogenetic analysis of a short region (210 bp) in 5′UTR region two genotypes, 2a and 3 were classified. Conclusions: In this study it was found a high frequency of the GBV-C genotype 2a in Lithuanian HCV positive patients. The presence of the genotype 3 may be correlated to the geographical location and history of Lithuania.
Highlights
GB virus C (GBV-C), known as hepatitis G virus (HGV), is an enveloped virus with about 9,4Kb genome-length single-strand RNA
The samples consisted of 72 females, 14 of them positive for GBV-C RNA, and 98 males, 22 of them positive for GBV-C RNA (Table 1)
The most GBV-C isolates present in this study fall within genotype 2a 97.22% (35/36) and one isolate was found to belong to the genotype 3 (2.78% (1/36)) (Figure 3)
Summary
GB virus C (GBV-C), known as hepatitis G virus (HGV), is an enveloped virus with about 9,4Kb genome-length single-strand RNA. Based on similarity in genome structure with HCV, the GBV-C virus is classified as the Flaviviridae family virus. The GBV-C virus has a worldwide distribution and virus infections are common among healthy blood donors as well as among immunocompromised individuals. Previous studies showed the high GBV-C co-infection rate in hepatitis C virus (HCV) and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive individuals. Based on genetic differences between the 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR) sequences of GBV-C isolates, virus is classified into seven major genotypes and in several subtypes. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency the frequency of GBV-C and the GBV-C genotypes among the HCV positive individuals in Lithuania. The polyprotein of close to 3000 amino acids is cleaved by cellular and viral proteases into two structural and five nonstructural proteins [2]. Nonstructural proteins NS2 (protease), NS3 (serine protease/RNA helicase), NS4, NS5A, and NS5B (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase) are located at the 3′ region [4]
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