Relationship between hepatitis C virus genotype, virus load and disease progress

Objective To understand the correlation between hepatitis C virus genotype, virus load and disease progress. Methods The retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 107 chronic hepatitis C patients seeking medical care in our hospital from December 2010 to April 2013. RT-PCR and gene chip methods were used to detect HCV RNA and identify HCV genotype respectively. Results Among the 107 samples collected from the patients, 7 genotypes were detected, i.e. genotype 1a in 4 patients (3.74%), genotype 1b in 52 patients (48.60%), genotype 2a in 15 patients (14.02%), genotype 3a in 10 patients (9.35%), genotype 3b in 9 patients (8.41%), genotype 6 in 16 patients (14.95%) and genotype 1b+2a in 1 patient (0.93%). Genotype 1 was the most common genotype in both males and females, and genotype 6 was more common in males than in females (2=4.336, P=0.049). There were no statistical significant differences in the distribution of HCV genotypes in different age groups and in specific genotype carrying ages of patients. The virus load of genotype 6 was highest, followed by genotype 1. The virus loads of genotype 2 and 3 were significantly lower than those of genotype 6 and 1 (P0.01). The HCV RNA levels of the patients with end-stage liver disease and the patients accompanied with immunodeficiency were higher than that of patients with chronic hepatitis C. Genotype 1 (especially 1b) was the most common genotype in patients with end-stage liver disease (P=0.016). Conclusion HCV genotype 1b is also the most common genotype in eastern Zhejiang. Patients infected with HCV genotype 1b may have higher virus load and more serious liver diseases.The infection rate of HCV genotype 6 is relatively higher. We should attach importance to the study of infection of HCV genotype 6.