Molecular Detection of Hepatitis C Virus amongst Patients in Five Selected Hospitals in Niger State, Nigeria

M U Iduh,K O Shitu,F A Kuta,M E Abalaka

doi:10.46912/jbrcp2i1.2019100

Abstract

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is a major public health problem in developing and developed countries worldwide. It is responsible for liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma in chronically-infected patients. This study therefore aimed to identify the strain of HCV among HCV seropositive subjects in Niger State. A total of 44 HCV seropositive blood samples which consisted of 27 males and 17 females were analyzed (after Viral RNA extraction) for the presence of HCV-RNA by Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR). Nine (20.5%) of the samples were positive for HCV RNA. HCV-RNA positive samples were genotyped by direct sequencing at 5’UTR region genomes; sequences were aligned on MEGA 6.0 and confirmed by phylogenetic analysis. HCV genotype 1b was the only one distributed among the participants. The findings are relevant as predictors for using antiviral therapy in this population because the response to treatment varies according to the genotype.

Highlights

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is estimated to infect 170 million people worldwide
The result showed the distribution of HCV RNA among participants with USNGH having the highest with 50% (N= 4), followed by General Hospital Kontagora (GHK) 14.3% (N= 2) and General Hospital Wushishi (GHW) 13.3% (N=2), the least from General Hospital Minna (GHM) 20% (N= 1) and there was no HCV RNA distribution in General Hospital Suleja (GHS) as shown in table 1
Out of the 44 HCV antibodies positive samples obtained in the study, only 9 were PCR positive which showed that seropositive samples may not definitely be positive for RT- PCR test

Summary

Introduction

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is estimated to infect 170 million people worldwide. It was first identified in 1989and is the main cause of chronic liver diseases including cirrhosis (60–85 %) and hepatocellular carcinoma,[1] with a yearly mortality rate of 3.5-5.5 million resulting from complications of end stage liver diseases.[2] HCV is an enveloped virus that belongs to the genus Hepaci virus in the family Flavi viridae. The polyprotein consists of structural (C, E1, and E2) and nonstructural (p7, NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B) proteins which are flanked by 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions (UTR).[3, 4] HCV isolates are classified into six major genotypes (genotypes 1–6) and recently a novel genotype 7 has been described as well .5. The polyprotein consists of structural (C, E1, and E2) and nonstructural (p7, NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B) proteins which are flanked by 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions (UTR).[3, 4] HCV isolates are classified into six major genotypes (genotypes 1–6) and recently a novel genotype 7 has been described as well .5 HCV genotypes can be divided further into

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Discussion

Conclusion