Polymorphism within the 5’UTR genomic region of hepatitis G virus (HGV) isolated from beta-thalassemia population in Iraq

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Beta-thalassemia patients develop chronic infections due to the hepatitis G virus (HGV), due to frequent blood transfusions. This study aimed to isolate these viruses from beta-thalassemia Iraqi patients and investigate into the 5'UTR genomic region of the virus to investigate the prevalent genotypes in this region.   Materials and Methods: The study included 154 beta-thalassemia patients. Blood samples were collected from each individual participating in this study. Genomic RNA was isolated and subjected to cDNA synthesis. The 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of the DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction using specific HGV primers and sent for sequencing. The sequences were genotyped using bioinformatics tools.     Results: The results showed hepatitis G virus infection to be prevalent in 18.2% of the beta-thalassemia patients. Sequencing and alignment of the HGV 5'UTR sequences showed several nucleotide variations. A phylogenetic analysis revealed the following HGV genotypes to infect beta-thalassemia patients genotype 4(58.3%), genotype 2b (33.3%) and genotype 1b (8.3%).   Conclusion: Genotyping of the 5'UTR region of the HGV gene showed the genotypes 1b, 2b and 4 to be prevalent among beta-thalassemia patients in Iraq.