Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 28, 2015; 21(44): 12586-12592
Published online Nov 28, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i44.12586
Hepatitis B virus infection and genotype in asymptomatic people from 10 ethnic groups in Yunnan, China
Yuan-Ying Shen, Wei Hou, Zhan-Qiu Yang, Wen Xiao
Yuan-Ying Shen, Wei Hou, Zhan-Qiu Yang, Institute of Virology, Medical School of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China
Yuan-Ying Shen, Dali University, Dali 671000, Yunnan Province, China
Wen Xiao, Institute of Eastern-Himalaya Biodiversity Research, Dali University, Dali 671000, Yunnan Province, China
Author contributions: Shen YY, Hou W and Yang ZQ designed the research; Shen YY and Hou W preformed the research; Shen YY and Yang ZQ contributed reagents/analytic tools; Shen YY and Xiao W analyzed the data and wrote the paper; Hou W and Yang ZQ revised the paper.
Supported by National Nature Science Foundation of China, No. 30560136.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed by Institutional Review Board of Dali University.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The manuscript did not relate to any animal use and care.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We declare that we have no financial or personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, and there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Zhan-Qiu Yang, Professor, Institute of Virology, Medical School of Wuhan University, No. 115 Dong Hu Road, Wuhan 430071, Hubei Province, China. yangzhanqiu@163.com
Telephone: +86-27-68759136 Fax: +86-27-68759136
Received: February 24, 2015
Peer-review started: February 26, 2015
First decision: March 26, 2015
Revised: April 12, 2015
Accepted: August 25, 2015
Article in press: August 25, 2015
Published online: November 28, 2015
Abstract

AIM: To evaluate the infection and genotype distribution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in ethnic groups in Yunnan, China.

METHODS: Two thousand five hundred and eighty-four asymptomatic local people from 10 ethnic groups were investigated in Yunnan, China. Infection and genotype distribution were evaluated by serological and genetic methods. Genotyping was verified by sequencing. Ethnic genotype distribution was compared by proportion test.

RESULTS: Four types of infection model based on HBV serum markers were identified, and the average HBV infection rate was 5.7% in those asymptomatic local people. The genotype prevalence was 59.6% for B, 21.1% for C and 19.3% BC; subgenotypes Ba, Cs and Ce were identified in this study. Hepatitis B surface antigen-positive rate and the proportion of genotype B were significantly lower in ethnic groups with a northern origin compared to those with a southern origin (50% vs 73.9%, P = 0.037; 4.2% vs 10.5%, P = 0.000).

CONCLUSION: Genotype B is dominant and genotype BC has high occurrence in asymptomatic local ethnic groups in Yunnan. HBV infection status and genotype distribution may associate with ethnic origin.

Keywords: Hepatitis B virus, Infection and genotype, Ethnic distribution, BC genotype, Yunnan, China

Core tip: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and genotype distribution were evaluated in asymptomatic local people from 10 ethnic groups in Yunnan, China. The genotype prevalence rate was 59.6% for B, 21.1% for C and 19.3% BC; hepatitis B surface antigen-positive rate and the proportion of genotype B were significantly lower in ethnic groups with a northern origin compared to those with a southern origin. Our results suggested that HBV infection status and genotype distribution may associate with ethnic origin. It may also give some hint on understanding virus evolution.