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Hepatitis C virus genotypes in hemodialyzed patients: a multicentric study
C Goessens1, M Jadoul, C Walon
1Virology Unit, University of Louvain Medical School, Brussels, Belgium.
Clinical Nephrology
|June 1, 1997
Summary
This study analyzed Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) genotypes in 80 Belgian dialysis patients using RFLP. It found 10% infected with rarer genotypes 4 or 5, suggesting non-nosocomial transmission is possible.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Virology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) genotype distribution in hemodialyzed patients is understudied.
- Previous studies focused on small patient groups from single dialysis units.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine HCV genotypes in a multicentric group of Belgian hemodialyzed patients.
- To assess the prevalence of rare HCV genotypes (4 and 5) in this population.
- To investigate potential transmission patterns.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of HCV strains from 80 hemodialyzed patients across 14 Belgian units.
- HCV genotyping performed using Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) in the 5' non-coding region (5' NCR).
- Validation of RFLP results in 47 patients using Inno-Lipa II assay.
Main Results:
- Subtype 1b was the most prevalent (80%), followed by subtypes 2a (7.5%), 4 (7.5%), 5 (2.5%), 1a (2.5%), and 2b (1%).
- A significant finding was the detection of HCV genotypes 4 or 5 in 10% (8/80) of patients.
- High agreement (98%) was observed between RFLP and Inno-Lipa II genotyping methods.
- Prevalence of rare genotypes 4 and 5 could not be solely attributed to nosocomial spread.
Conclusions:
- Multicentric genotyping revealed a notable prevalence of HCV genotypes 4 and 5 among Belgian hemodialyzed patients.
- The distribution of these genotypes suggests that factors other than nosocomial transmission may contribute to their presence.
- Further investigation is needed to understand the epidemiology of rare HCV genotypes in dialysis populations.