Copyright
©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Med Genet. May 27, 2014; 4(2): 19-26
Published online May 27, 2014. doi: 10.5496/wjmg.v4.i2.19
Published online May 27, 2014. doi: 10.5496/wjmg.v4.i2.19
Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis B virus in Asia
Takako Utsumi, Indonesia-Japan Collaborative Research Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, Institute of Tropical Disease, Airlangga University, Surabaya 60115, Indonesia
Takako Utsumi, Yoshihiko Yano, Hak Hotta, Center for Infectious Diseases, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan
Author contributions: All the authors contributed substantially to the conception and design, acquisition of data described in the articles, drafting the article, designing the figures of the manuscript, revising it critically for important intellectual content, and gave approval for the final version to be published.
Supported by The Japan Initiative for Global Research Network on Infectious Diseases (J-GRID) Program from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan; The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, and a SATREPS Grant from Japan Science and Technology Agency and Japan International Cooperation Agency
Correspondence to: Hak Hotta, MD, PhD, Center for Infectious Diseases, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan. hotta@kobe-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-78-3825500 Fax: +81-78-3825519
Received: December 17, 2013
Revised: February 25, 2014
Accepted: March 13, 2014
Published online: May 27, 2014
Revised: February 25, 2014
Accepted: March 13, 2014
Published online: May 27, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection usually progresses to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The variation of the HBV genotype is related to the geographical distribution. Also, the clinical characteristics and therapeutic effectiveness of interferon and nucleos(t)ide analogue vary among different HBV genotypes. A large number of epidemiological and clinical studies have been reported from Asian countries. However, most of the studies were conducted in developed countries such as Taiwan, China, South Korea and Japan. In this review, epidemiologically and clinically important aspects of HBV genotypes/subgenotypes found in East and Southeast Asian countries are updated and summarized.