[Determination of nucleotide sequences of Russian isolates of delta hepatitis virus]

Genome RNA of hepatitis Delta virus (HDV) was isolated from the blood sera of 4 independently infected patients. The genome fragment of 901-1265 was obtained for each isolate by the RT-PCR. The resultant sequences showed that all isolates belonged to HDV genotype I. Russian isolates were shown to be closely related to an Italian one (98.1-97.5% and 97.1-95.1% identity for the nucleic acid and amino acid levels, respectively); they may represent an extra subtype within genotype I. No appreciable differences between the Russian strains were found, which fact may reflect a possible homogeneity of HDV population in North-Western Russia.