Abstract
The Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) can cause acute or chronic infection it is also associated with the development of liver cancer, thousands of new infections occur on a yearly basis, and many of these cases are located in certain areas of the Caribbean and Latin America. In these areas, the HBV prevalence is still high which makes this virus a serious public health concern to the entire region. Studies performed in Panama suggest a complex pattern in the distribution of HBV among the country’s different risk groups. We use phylogenetic analysis in order to determine which HBV genotypes were circulating in these specific groups; for this we used a fragment of the PreS2/2 region of the HBV genome. Subsequently whole HBV genome sequences were used for Bayesian analysis of phylodynamics and phylogeography. Two main genotypes were found: genotype A (54.5%) and genotype F (45.5%). There was a difference in the distribution of genotypes according to risk groups: 72.9% of high risk groups were associated to genotype A, and 55.0% of samples of genotype F were associated to the low risk group (p<0.002). The Bayesian analysis of phylogeny-traits association revealed a statistically significant geographical association (p<0.0001) with both genotypes and different regions of the country. The Bayesian time of most recent common ancestor analysis (tMRCA) revealed a recent tMRCA for genotype A2 circulating in Panama (1997, 95% HPD: 1986—2005), when it is compared with Panamanian genotype F1c sequences (1930, 95% HPD: 1810 – 2005). These results suggest a possible change in the distribution of HBV genotypes in Panama and Latin America as a whole. They also serve to encourage the implementation of vaccination programs in high-risk groups, in order to prevent an increase in the number of new HBV cases in Latin America and worldwide.
Highlights
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is a major cause of serious liver disease [1]
In this study we evaluated the HBV genotypes that are circulating in four different Panamanian populations of HBV positive subjects
When we grouped the sequences according to the risk of acquiring the infection, we obtained the following results: the low risk group showed a significant association with genotype F (n = 22, 55%), high risk groups showed a significant association with genotype A (n = 35, 72.9%) (p
Summary
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) is a major cause of serious liver disease [1]. The virus can cause acute or chronic infection and is commonly associated with the development of liver cancer. Commercial sex workers (CSW) show a low prevalence (0.9%) [3]; men that have sex with men (MSM) have an intermediate prevalence (3.4%) [4], while blood donors have the lowest prevalence (0.03%) [5]. These differences in HBV prevalence between the different groups has been observed in other countries [6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]. This could serve as an indication that some individuals are at a higher risk for acquiring the infection [17], resulting in a particular pattern of distribution among groups, or an expansion of best fitted virus strains among different HBV genotypes circulating in the country [18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
