Genotypes and Clinical Phenotypes of HBV of CHBI

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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2002, p. 1207-1209, Vol. 40, No. 4 0095-1137/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.4.1207-1209.2002 Copyright ?2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Genotypes and Clinical Phenotypes of Hepatitis B Virus in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection *** Jia-Horng Kao,1,2* Pei-Jer Chen,1,2,3 Ming-Yang Lai,1,2 and Ding-Shinn Chen2 Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine,1 Department of Internal Medicine,2 Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University College of Medicine and National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan3 Received 16 October 2001/ Returned for modification 24 December 2001/Accepted 20 January 2002 Genotype C of hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been shown to be associated with a poor clinical outcome, compared to genotype B. To explore the clinical phenotypes, with special reference to the seroconversion of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) and frequency of acute exacerbation between patients infected with HBV genotypes B and C, a cohort of 272 Taiwanese patients with chronic HBV infection was analyzed. According to the status of HBeAg at enrollment and frequency of acute exacerbation during the follow-up period, five groups of patients with distinct clinical phenotypes were categorized. Of the 272 HBV carriers, 185 (68%) were infected with HBV genotype B and the remaining 87 (32%) were infected with genotype C. Among them, 150 (55%) were positive for HBeAg and patients with genotype C infection tended to have a higher positive rate of HBeAg than those with genotype B infection (63 versus 51%). Genotype B was more prevalent than genotype C in different groups of HBV carriers. However, the prevalence of genotype C in patients with multiple episodes of acute exacerbation who failed to have HBeAg seroconversion was significantly higher than in all 272 patients (50 versus 32%, P = 0.025), in those with HBeAg seroconversion after only one episode of acute exacerbation (50 versus 12%, P = 0.01), or in those negative for HBeAg at enrollment and without acute exacerbations (50 versus 23%, P = 0.002). In conclusion, patients with genotype C infection have a more aggressive clinical phenotype than do those with genotype B infection, which contributes to the former group's progressive liver disease and poor clinical outcomes. * Corresponding author. Mailing address: Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, 7 Chung-Shan South Rd., Taipei 100, Taiwan. Phone: 886-2-23123456, ext. 7307. Fax: 886-2-23317624. E-mail: [email protected]. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, April 2002, p. 1207-1209, Vol. 40, No. 4 0095-1137/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.40.4.1207-1209.2002 Copyright ?2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.