Determination of Hepatitis C virus subtypes in thalassemia patients by phylogenetic analysis by NS5B region

Patients with thalassemia are one of the at risk groups for acquiring Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. They need to be transfused regularly. High prevalence of this virus in thalassemia population, complications of HCV infection and the important effect of HCV genotype determination in treatment of the virus were the reasons for performing this research. The aims of the present study were to detect thalassemia patients with chronic infection and determinate the HCV subtypes distribution in this group.
The study was concluded on 120 specimens for HCV antibody from thalassemia patients in Tehran and Amol cites. After sequencing of PCR products, determination of HCV subtypes was performed by construction of phylogenic trees. c2, t, Fisher exact test and SPSS 22 have been used for data analysis.
The results showed that 67 (55/8 %) of the 120 specimens were positive for HCV RNA, 34 (28.3%) from Tehran and 33 (27.5%) from Amol. 65 specimens could be genotyped. Subtype 1a accounted for 53/8 % (n=35), 3a for 30.7 % (n = 20), 1b for 13/8 % (n = 9) and 4a for 1/7 % (n = 1) of infected cases.
Implementation of effective strategies for detection of thalassemia patients, with HCV chronic infection in thalassemia centers is necessary. The predominance of genotype 1 among thalassemia patients is important in treatment of these patients because genotype 1 indicates lower rate of sustained viral response to current therapy (Interferon and Ribavirin ) compare to HCV genotype 2 and 3.