Genetic heterogeneity of hepatitis C virus and its clinical significance

 
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Report (EN)

2007 (EN)

Genetic heterogeneity of hepatitis C virus and its clinical significance (EN)

Alexopoulou A.,

SUMMARY The hepatitis C virus (HCV) displays high genetic heterogeneity. Many classification systems have been used but the most widely accepted is that of Simmonds with 11 genotypes and 80 subtypes. Techniques used to determine the HCV genotype are molecular biology based (genotyping techniques) and serological (serotyping techniques). This viral diversity has epidemiological and clinical implications and has been associated with the severity of liver disease, prognosis, diagnostic tests, response to treatment and failure to generate an effective protective vaccine. Commercially available HCV RNA reverse transcription/PCR qualitative and quantitative first-generation assays underestimated the HCV RNA level of genotypes 2 to 6. The second generation methods have corrected this problem. HCV genotype 1b is the predominant genotype in Western Europe and has been associated with a more severe clinical course of liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Genotypes 1 and 4 have been associated with a low response rate to IFN-ᠯr to the combination of ribavirin and IFN-ᮍ Consequently, the duration of treatment has been tailored according to genotype and viral load. Explaining the possible pathogenetic mechanisms involved in the different clinical profiles of HCV genotypes has been the subject of many studies. HCV circulates as a mixed population of HCV molecules termed quasispecies derived from multiple point mutations. Multiple quasispecies have been implicated in both chronic and acute HCV infection leading to severe prognosis and to the evolution to chronicity respectively. Key words: Hepatitis C virus, genotypes, subtypes, geographical distribution, quasispecies (EN)

info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion


English

2007-03-19


Hellenic Society of Gastroenterology (EN)

1792-7463
1108-7471
Annals of Gastroenterology; Volume 14, No 4 (2001) (EN)




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