Shier Medhat K, Iles James C, El-Wetidy Mohammad S, Ali Hebatallah H, Al Qattan Mohammad M
College of Medicine Research Center, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
PLoS One. 2017 Sep 1;12(9):e0184163. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184163. eCollection 2017.
The source of HCV transmission in Saudi Arabia is unknown. This study aimed to determine HCV genotypes in a representative sample of chronically infected patients in Saudi Arabia. All HCV isolates were genotyped and subtyped by sequencing of the HCV core region and 54 new HCV isolates were identified. Three sets of primers targeting the core region were used for both amplification and sequencing of all isolates resulting in a 326 bp fragment. Most HCV isolates were genotype 4 (85%), whereas only a few isolates were recognized as genotype 1 (15%). With the assistance of Genbank database and BLAST, subtyping results showed that most of genotype 4 isolates were 4d whereas most of genotype 1 isolates were 1b. Nucleotide conservation and variation rates of HCV core sequences showed that 4a and 1b have the highest levels of variation. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences by Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Coalescent methods was used to explore the source of HCV transmission by investigating the relationship between Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and Africa. Coalescent analysis showed that transmissions of HCV from Egypt to Saudi Arabia are estimated to have occurred in three major clusters: 4d was introduced into the country before 1900, the major 4a clade's MRCA was introduced between 1900 and 1920, and the remaining lineages were introduced between 1940 and 1960 from Egypt and Middle Africa. Results showed that no lineages seem to have crossed from Egypt to Saudi Arabia in the last 15 years. Finally, sequencing and characterization of new HCV isolates from Saudi Arabia will enrich the HCV database and help further studies related to treatment and management of the virus.
沙特阿拉伯丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）的传播源尚不清楚。本研究旨在确定沙特阿拉伯慢性感染患者代表性样本中的HCV基因型。所有HCV分离株通过HCV核心区域测序进行基因分型和亚型分型，并鉴定出54株新的HCV分离株。使用针对核心区域的三组引物对所有分离株进行扩增和测序，得到一个326 bp的片段。大多数HCV分离株为4型（85%），而只有少数分离株被鉴定为1型（15%）。借助Genbank数据库和BLAST，亚型分型结果显示，大多数4型分离株为4d型，而大多数1型分离株为1b型。HCV核心序列的核苷酸保守率和变异率表明，4a和1b具有最高水平的变异。通过最大似然法和贝叶斯合并法对序列进行系统发育分析，通过研究沙特阿拉伯与中东和非洲其他国家之间的关系来探索HCV的传播源。合并分析表明，HCV从埃及传播到沙特阿拉伯估计发生在三个主要集群中：4d型在1900年之前传入该国，主要的4a进化枝的最近共同祖先在1900年至1920年之间传入，其余谱系在1940年至1960年之间从埃及和中非传入。结果表明，在过去15年中似乎没有谱系从埃及传播到沙特阿拉伯。最后，对沙特阿拉伯新的HCV分离株进行测序和表征将丰富HCV数据库，并有助于进一步开展与该病毒治疗和管理相关的研究。
