Nguyen Hung Minh, Sy Bui Tien, Trung Nguyen Thanh, Hoan Nghiem Xuan, Wedemeyer Heiner, Velavan Thirumalaisamy P, Bock C-Thomas
Center for Molecular Biology, Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
Department of Molecular Biology, 108 Military Central Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam.
PLoS One. 2017 Apr 12;12(4):e0175304. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175304. eCollection 2017.
Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infection plays an important role in liver diseases. However, the molecular epidemiology and impact of HDV infection in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remain uncertain in Vietnam. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence and genotype distribution of HDV among HBsAg-positive patients in Central Vietnam. 250 CHB patients were tested for HDV using newly established HDV-specific RT-PCR techniques. HDV genotypes were determined by direct sequencing. Of the 250 patients 25 (10%) had detectable copies of HDV viral RNA. HDV-2 was predominant (20/25; 80%) followed by HDV-1 (5/25; 20%). Proven HDV genotypes share the Asian nomenclature. Chronic hepatitis B patients with concomitant HDV-1 showed higher HBV loads as compared to HDV-2 infected patients [median log10 (HBV-DNA copies/ml): 8.5 vs. 4.4, P = 0.036]. Our findings indicate that HDV infection is highly prevalent and HDV-2 is predominant in Central Vietnam. The data will add new information to the management of HBsAg-positive patients in a highly HBV endemic region to in- or exclude HDV infection in terms of diagnostic and treatment options.
丁型肝炎病毒（HDV）感染在肝脏疾病中起着重要作用。然而，在越南，HDV感染在慢性乙型肝炎（CHB）中的分子流行病学及影响仍不明确。这项横断面研究旨在调查越南中部HBsAg阳性患者中HDV的流行情况和基因型分布。采用新建立的HDV特异性RT-PCR技术对250例CHB患者进行HDV检测。通过直接测序确定HDV基因型。在250例患者中，25例（10%）检测到HDV病毒RNA拷贝。HDV-2占主导地位（20/25；80%），其次是HDV-1（5/25；20%）。已证实的HDV基因型采用亚洲命名法。与HDV-2感染患者相比，合并HDV-1感染的慢性乙型肝炎患者的HBV载量更高[中位数log10（HBV-DNA拷贝/ml）：8.5对4.4，P = 0.036]。我们的研究结果表明，在越南中部，HDV感染非常普遍，且HDV-2占主导地位。这些数据将为高HBV流行地区HBsAg阳性患者的管理提供新信息，以便在诊断和治疗选择方面纳入或排除HDV感染。
