genotyping of hepatitis b virus by multiplex pcr in sistan and baluchestan province

Background: hepatitis b virus (hbv) has been classified into 8 genotypes (a - h) according to at least 8% difference in complete nucleotide sequences or more than 4% in s gene. different genotypes of hbv have important roles in development of certain disorders as: hepatitis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. therefore, knowing the distribution of hbv genotypes, have considerable impacts on treatment strategies, vaccination program, diagnosis and prevention. objectives: this study aims to determine the prevalence of hbvgenotypes in patients infected with the virus in sistan and baluchestan province (south-east iran). patients and methods: in this descriptive study, 163 patients infected with hbv were selected over the first 6 months (beginning frommarch2012 onward). all the patients werehbsag(hepatitisbsurface antigen)andhbeag(extracellular form of hbcag) positive along with viral load> 10000 copies/ml. afterdnaextraction from the patients’ sera, viral genotypes were determined by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (pcr) using special primers for each genotype. results: from 163 samples, 154 samples (94.5%) had d genotype which was dominant genotype; and 9 samples (5.5%) had mixed genotype of c/d. conclusions: this study showed that in sistan and baluchestan, like other regions of iran as well as mediterranean countries, d genotype is dominant genotype. in additional, c/d mixed genotype is also seen less frequently in this province.