An increased diversity of HCV isolates were characterized among 393 patients with liver disease in China representing six genotypes, 12 subtypes, and two novel genotype 6 variants

BackgroundWe have recently determined HCV isolates among volunteer blood donors and IDUs in southern China and revealed the genotype distribution patterns not only different between the two studied cohorts but also from what we have sampled in 2002. A changed pattern could have also occurred among patients with liver disease.Materials and methodsBoth E1 and NS5B sequences of HCV were characterized among 393 patients with liver disease followed by phylogenetic analysis.ResultsSix HCV genotypes, 12 subtypes (1b: 65.9%, 6a: 17.1%, 2a: 7.4%, 3a: 3.6%, 3b: in 3.3%, 6e: 0.76%, and 1a, 1c, 2b, 2f, 4d, and 5a each 0.25%), and two novel genotype 6 variants were classified, showing the greatest complexity of HCV hitherto found in China. Although the predominance of 1b followed by 6a is largely consistent with what we have sampled in 2002, the identification of single isolates of 1c, 2f, 4d, 5a, and two novel HCV-6 variants were first reported. Excluding 4d from a European visitor, all the others were from Chinese patients. Since the 6a proportion (17.1%, 67/393) was unexpectedly lower than what we have recently detected among blood donors (34.8%, 82/236) and IDUs (51.5%, 70/136), further statistical analyses were conducted. Comparison of the mean ages showed that among the 393 patients, those infected with 1b were significantly (6.7 years) older than those with 6a, while the 393 patients as a whole were significantly older than the 236 blood donors (8.4 years) and 136 IDUs (12.6 years) we have recently reported. Explanations are that younger individuals had higher proportions of 6a infections while patients with liver disease could have acquired their infections earlier than volunteer blood donors and IDUs.ConclusionAmong 393 patients with liver disease, a great diversity in HCV was detected, which reflects a constantly changing pattern of HCV genotypes in China over time.