Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Intervirology. 2013;56(3):201-5. doi: 10.1159/000346775. Epub 2013 Mar 19.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) shows that HCV genotypes are unique with respect to their nucleotide sequence, geographical distribution and clinical relationship.
In this study we enrolled 67 HCV-infected individuals with various stages of liver disease from four geographical regions of Turkey. A partial NS5B region of the HCV genome was sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis to determine the circulating HCV genotypes and subtypes.
The results showed that HCV genotype 1 (subtype1b) is the main genetic variant of HCV in Turkey but did not reveal any Turkish indigenous phylogenetic cluster. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Turkish strains have their closest matches from both Asia (Japan) and Europe/USA.
In view of Turkey's geographic position, HCV-1b transmission from Europe is not exceptional. This study could not establish a clear role of other HCV genotypes prevalent in neighboring Asian countries in Turkey's HCV transmission, which would need to be confirmed by further regional epidemiological studies.
背景/目的：丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）的分子流行病学显示，HCV 基因型在核苷酸序列、地理分布和临床关系方面具有独特性。
本研究纳入了来自土耳其四个地区的 67 名患有不同阶段肝病的 HCV 感染个体。对 HCV 基因组的部分 NS5B 区进行测序，并进行系统进化分析，以确定循环 HCV 基因型和亚型。
结果表明，HCV 基因型 1（亚型 1b）是土耳其 HCV 的主要遗传变异体，但并未显示出任何土耳其本土的系统进化簇。系统进化分析显示，土耳其株与来自亚洲（日本）和欧洲/美国的株最为接近。
鉴于土耳其的地理位置，来自欧洲的 HCV-1b 传播并不罕见。本研究未能确定在土耳其 HCV 传播中，来自邻近亚洲国家的其他 HCV 基因型的明确作用，这需要通过进一步的区域流行病学研究来证实。
