Distribution of Hepatitis C Virus Genotypes in Rasht, Capital City of Guilan Province, Northern Part of Iran

Hepatitis C infection is a major health problem around the world. It exhibits high genetic diversity, characterized by regional variations in genotype distribution. It seems that the hepatitis C virus genotypes are differently distributed between distinct geographical regions and also associated with different clinical outcomes and response to antiviral therapy.
The current study was performed to identify the distribution of HCV genotypes among chronic patients, who were HCV positive in Rasht, Capital City of Guilan Province, and Northern Part of Iran.
Patients and The cross sectional study was carried out from June 2014 to February 2015. A total of 83 patients with anti-HCV-positive specimens were enrolled. Detection of HCV-RNA by Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) was performed from anti-HCV positive specimens, and HCV genotypes among plasma samples from RNA-HCV positive patients were then investigated using type-specific primers.
The mean age of patients was 49.6 ± 11.2 years (range: 19 to 62). Hepatitis C virus RNA was detected in 81 out of 83 patients with positive HCV antibodies. The HCV G1a was identified as the most abundant HCV subtype 42 (51.8 %). Furthermore, HCV G3a was observed in 23 (28.4%) patients followed by G2a, in 6 (7.4%), and G1b in 10 (12.4%). The frequency of HCV genotypes in males was higher than females. G1a was the most frequent genotype in patients over 40 years of age and also G3a was the most frequent in patients under 40 years old, yet this difference was not significant.
The current results indicate that G1a is the most prevalent genotype in in the study region. Also, the study gives greater evidence of the role of gender between different HCV genotypes in Rasht. Therefore, it is essential to determine the predominant subtypes of HCV in each region of Iran.