Abstract

Objective: To find out the phylogenetic background of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) samples isolated in Shahrekord, Iran. Methods: A total of 350 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive sera samples were found from blood donors and HBsAg positive patients in blood transfusion center and clinical laboratory in Shahrekord, Iran. HDV RNA was extracted using RNXPlus (CinnaGen, Iran). A total of 421 bp corresponding to hepatitis delta antigen have been isolated from HDV in Shahrekord, then were amplified in polymerase chain reaction system, sequenced for determining nucleotide sequence and compared with identified nucleotide sequences of these genes in other countries. Results: Among 350 HBsAg positive samples, we could detect HCV RNA in only two samples. After sequencing, the nucleotide sequences had a variability of 1/7-3/0 for HD Ag gene. The greatest sequence similarity existed between Iranian HD Ag sequence and JF694493-Iran, U25667-China with a sequence similarity of 99.7% and the least relationship between Iranian HD Ag sequence and AF008420-USA with a similarity of 92.9%. Conclusions: It is suggested that precise genotype of HDV circulating in the region can be determined by more expansive sampling from different parts of Chahar mahal and Bakhtiari province and neigh bouring provinces (Esfehan and Khoozestan).

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