The Relationship between Hepatitis C Genotypes and Viral Load: a study on hepatitis C patients in Kerman, Iran using Real-time PCR

Background: Distribution of hepatitis C virus genotypes varies geographically and can be associated with clinical aspects. The virus has six major genotypes and eleven sub-genotypes. According to the recent studies, in hepatitis C patients, treatment duration and ribavirin dosage should be determined based on the type of virus genotype. Because of contradictory results reported in different countries and races, the present study aimed to determine the genotype of hepatitis C and its relationship with viral load in HCV patients in Kerman, Iran. Methods: The study included 106 patients with hepatitis C referred to Dr. Bazrafshani Medical Genetic Lab. in Kerman. Patients’ blood plasma was collected and used for virus genotyping and viral load determination by Real-Time PCR technique. Results: From 106 studied patients, 82 ones were male (77.4%) and 24 ones were female (22.6%). Most frequent genotypes were respectively genotype 3 (55.7%) and genotype 1(44.3%). Viral load in genotype1 was greater than that in genotype 3 (P=0.011). Conclusions: In this study, the predominant genotype was genotype 3. Therefore, treatment strategies should go towards type 3 virus. On the other hand, copy number of genotype 1virus was higher than that of type 3 that should be considered very important in determining the treatment duration in HCV patients.