Hepatitis B virus and hepatitis D virus in blood donors from Argentina: circulation of HBsAg and reverse transcriptase mutants

CECILIA DELFINO; EMILIANO ALBERTO GENTILE; AMALIA INES CASTILLO; MARIA LUJAN CUESTAS; GABRIELA PATACCINI; CAMILA CÁNEPA; RICHARD MALAN; JORGELINA BLEJER; CAROLINA BERINI; MARÍA EIRIN; WILLIAMS PEDROZO; JOSÉ OUBIÑA; MIRNA BIGLIONE; VERONICA MATHET

ARCHIVES OF VIROLOGY

SPRINGER WIEN

Lugar: Viena; Año: 2013 vol. 159 p. 1109 - 1117

0304-8608

In Argentina, current procedures to ensure thesafety of the blood supply for transfusion include theserologic detection of specific blood-borne infections. Theaim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and thegenetic diversity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis Dvirus (HDV) in blood donor populations from two distantlylocated Argentine regions. Data from 56,983 blood donationsfrom the Favaloro Foundation, in the city of BuenosAires (Central Region), and the Central Blood Bank ofMisiones Province (Northeast Region) were analyzed.Samples that were reactive for HBsAg were analyzed forHBV-DNA characterization and HDV serological andmolecular analysis. The HBV prevalence was 0.12 % forHBsAg and 1.68 % for anti-HBc antibodies in BuenosAires, and 0.73 % and 8.55 %, respectively, in Misiones.Seventy-seven HBsAg-reactive samples were analyzed bypolymerase chain reaction for HBV-DNA. SubgenotypesA2, B2, C2, F1b and F4 (Buenos Aires) and F1b and D3(Misiones) were detected. Several mutations within themajor hydrophilic region of HBsAg, the reverse transcriptase,the basal core promoter, and the precore/core weredetected. HDV genotype 1 was identified in Buenos Aires.This study confirms the circulation of several HBV subgenotypes,as well as known and newly identified variants,and the presence of HDV1 in this population. A thoroughinvestigation has to be carried out to evaluate the clinicalimportance of some of the documented mutations as wellas those detected in the HDV1 case.