Comparison of two Genotyping methods of HCV ;RT-PCR and direct sequencing in kermanshah province ,western Iran

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important human pathogen that can cause acute and chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and, possibly, hepatocellular carcinoma.HCV has been classified into 6 major genotypes and many subtypes.Sevral methods have been developed for HCV genotyping and direct sequencin is gold standard method.In this study collected 180 samples of patients infected with HCV were referred to Reference laboratory in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, for HCV genotype testing and samples were genotyped by direct sequencing of Coregene.Among them , 138 samples (76.6%) was 3a genotype, 35 (19.4%) was 1a genotype, 3 (1.7%) was 1b genotype and 4 (2.2%) was 3a and 1b .HCV was transmitted by different routes such as intravenous drug abuse (IVDA), tattooing, sexual, blood transfusion and other risk factors.This study revealed that 3a is the most prevalent genotypes in Kermanshah province and IVDA is the main risk factor in this province. Results of genotyping by RT-PCR was confirmed by direct sequencing .

Keywords:

HCV , Genotyping , IRAN , Kermanshah