Phylogenetic Analysis of Twenty-Six Cases of Hepatitis Delta Virus Isolates in Tehran, Iran

Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is an RNA virus that can lead to severe acute, and chronic forms of liver disease using the helper function of the hepatitis B virus. HDV strains are categorized into three genotypes and eight clades, which distribute geographically. The prevalence rate of HDV infection varies from 2.4 to 10 percent in blood donors for chronic liver disease in Iran. The aim was to find out the phylogenetic background of samples isolated in Tehran. A molecular phylogenetic analysis in some samples has been conducted in Iran previously. However, the number of cases did not cover the whole country. In addition, based on the restriction in the number of cases, we studied 26 samples. In this study, a phylogenetic distribution of 26 Iranian isolates was determined using a neighbor-joining method. The revealed that all isolates belonged to Genotype I (Clade 1). It is shown that our finding is in concordance with previous studies in Iran. It can be concluded that the strain of HDV being spread in Iran belongs to Genotype 1. This study is in concordance with previous studies in Iran.