Objective: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a public health problem and a major cause of chronic hepatitis. This virus exhibits a great genetic variability, with 8 genotypes and numerous subtypes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fluctuations of HCV subtypes during 2 decades in Venezuela. Methods: HCV genotypes were determined by direct sequencing of the 5ʹ-noncoding region in 392 isolates circulating in patients attended during the years 2014–2015. HCV subtype assignment was confirmed in a subset of samples (n = 24) by partial sequencing of the NS5B region. The genotype distribution was compared with the one observed in a previous study of patients followed up during the years 1994–1996 and 2005–2006. Results: Some variation was observed in the HCV genotype distribution over these 20 years. HCV genotype 1b prevalence was reduced significantly from 1994–1995 to 2004–2005, as previously described, and then remained constant. During the last 10 years, a significant decrease of HCV subtype 2b (36/237 in 2005–2006 vs. 24/392 in 2014–2015, p #x3c; 0.001) was observed. Patients infected with HCV G2acj were significantly older than the ones infected with G1 (53 vs. 47 years, p = 0.004), and male sex was significantly more prevalent among G3a-infected patients compared to the other ones (71 vs. 47%, p = 0.047). Conclusions: Fluctuations in HCV subtype distribution have been observed over 2 decades in Venezuela. Different major mode of transmission and susceptibility to the available HCV treatment during each period might be playing a role in the observed fluctuations in HCV subtype distribution.
Intervirology

中文翻译：

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委内瑞拉20年间丙型肝炎病毒亚型分布的变化。

目的：丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染是公共卫生问题，也是慢性肝炎的主要原因。该病毒显示出巨大的遗传变异性，具有8个基因型和众多亚型。这项研究的目的是评估委内瑞拉2年内HCV亚型的波动。方法： HCV基因型通过直接测序2014-2015年就诊患者的392株分离株中5'-非编码区来确定。通过对NS5B区进行部分测序，在一部分样本中（ n = 24）确认了HCV亚型。将基因型分布与1994-1996年和2005-2006年间随访的先前患者研究中观察到的基因型分布进行了比较。结果：在这20年中，HCV基因型分布出现了一些变化。如前所述，从1994–1995年到2004–2005年，HCV基因型1b患病率显着降低，然后保持稳定。在过去10年中，观察到HCV 2b亚型显着下降（2005-2006年为36 / 237，2014-2015年为24/392 ，p＃x3c； 0.001）。HCV G2acj感染的患者年龄明显大于G1感染的患者（53岁对47岁，p = 0.004），并且在G3a感染的患者中，男性比其他人群更为普遍（71对47％，p = 0.047）。结论：在委内瑞拉已有超过20年的时间观察到HCV亚型分布的波动。在每个时期，不同的主要传播方式和对可用HCV治疗的敏感性可能在所观察到的HCV亚型分布波动中起作用。
病毒学