Hepatitis B virus genotypes and subgenotypes in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey

To determine the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and subgenotypes in patients with HBV infection in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey.

One hundred and thirty-seven patients' samples collected over 5 years (January 2005 to January 2010) at Farabi Hospital in Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon, Turkey were included in the study. All patients were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV DNA. The HBV genotypes were determined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method using an amplified segment of the pre-S region of HBV.

One hundred and twenty-five of the 137 HBV samples (91.3%) were identified as genotype D using the PCR-RFLP method. Twelve isolates had undefined patterns, 122 of the 125 samples (97.6%) were determined as subgenotype D2, 2 (1.6%) were subgenotype D1, and one (0.8%) was subgenotype D-del.

Similar findings in the other parts of the Turkey, the predominant patterns of HBV prevailing among patients in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey were of genotype D and subgenotype D2.