Caracterização do vírus da hepatite C em pacientes com hepatite crônica: Genótipos no eStado do Amazonas, Brasil

Abstract

Introduction: In the State of Amazonas, data regarding the prevalence of different genotypes of hepatitis C virus remains scarce. Methods: The genotype of 69 HCV positive patients was determined. An in-house standardized nested-PCR was used to detect HCV RNA. Genotype assignment was based on type-specific motifs on the sequenced amplicons delimited by primers HC11/HC18 from the 5' untranslated region. Results: Of the 69 patients studied, 65.2% were male and 34.8% were female. Genotype 1 showed the greatest prevalence, followed by 3 and 2. Conclusions: These data suggesting that Manaus is the point of arrival of HCV in the State of Amazonas.