molecular tracing of hepatitis c virus genotype 1 isolates in iran: a ns5b phylogenetic analysis with systematic review

Context: hepatitis c virus (hcv) is characterized by a high degree of genetic heterogeneity and classified into 7 genotypes and different subtypes. it heterogeneously distributed through various risk groups and geographical regions. a wellestablished phylogenetic relationship can simplify the tracing of hcv hierarchical strata into geographical regions. the current study aimed to find genetic phylogeny of subtypes 1a and 1b of hcv isolates based on ns5b nucleotide sequences in iran and other members of eastern mediterranean regional office of world health organization, as well as other middle eastern countries, with a systematic review of available published and unpublished studies.evidence acquisitionthe phylogenetic analyses were performed based on the nucleotide sequences of ns5b gene of hcv genotype 1 (hcv1), which were registered in the genbank database. the literature review was performed in two steps: 1) searching studies evaluating the ns5b sequences of hcv1, on pubmed, scopus, and web of science, and 2) searching sequences of unpublished studies registered in the genbank database.resultsin this study, 442 sequences from hcv1a and 232 from hcv1b underwent phylogenetic analysis. phylogenetic analysis of all sequences revealed different clusters in the phylogenetic trees. the results showed that the proportion of hcv1a and 1b isolates from iranian patients probably originated from domestic sources. moreover, the hcv1b isolates from iranian patients may have similarities with the european ones.conclusionsin this study, phylogenetic reconstruction of hcv1 sequences clearly indicated for molecular tracing and ancestral relationships of the hcv genotypes in iran, and showed the likelihood of domestic origin for hcv1a and various origin for hcv1b.