Implication of Hepatitis B Virus genotypes in A Long-Term Clinical Outcome of Patients with Hepatitis B Virus-related Chronic Liver Disease

Backgrounds/Aim: Implication of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes in long-term clinical manifestations in patients with HBV-related chronic liver disease was investigated. Subjects/ Methods: One hundred and eighty-seven patients with HBV-related chronic liver disease (35 with genotype B infection and 152 with genotype C infection) were enrolled in this study. HBV genotypes were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP)methods. Results: For the transition ratio from chronic hepatitis (CH) to liver cirrhosis (LC) during the entire study periods, patients with genotype C infection showed a significantly higher ratio than those of genotype B infection (40.5 and 4.5%, respectively, p< 0.05). Composition of HBV-related chronic liver disease (CH/LC) in HCC patients with genotype B infection was significantly different from that of genotype C infection (0/7 and 10/15, respectively, p<0.05). Patients with genotype C infection who developed HCC from CH were significantly younger than patients with either genotype B or C infection who developed HCC from LC (56.4, 68.7 and 63.8 yrs, respectively, p<0.05). Conclusions: Our results suggest that patients with genotype C infection show more severe liver disease than those of genotype B infection. Additionally patients with genotype C infection developed HCC from CH and young. Close follow-up and effective early intervention are required for the early detection and prevention of HCC in HBV-related chronic liver disease patients with genotype C infection, especially in the case of younger population