Trends of Hepatitis B Virus Genotype Distribution in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients in Japan

Overview

Journal J Gastroenterol

Specialty Gastroenterology

Date 2022 Sep 29

PMID 36173513

Authors

Kazumasa Sakamoto

Kiyoaki Ito

Hiroshi Yotsuyanagi

Hiroshi Yatsuhashi

Yasuhito Tanaka

Shuhei Hige

Yasuhiro Takikawa

Yoshiyuki Ueno

Kazuhide Yamamoto

Fumio Imazeki

Jun Inoue

Masayuki Kurosaki

Takeji Umemura

Hidenori Toyoda

Eiji Mita

Kojiro Michitaka

Tatsuji Maeshiro

Norie Yamada

Atsushi Suetsugu

Miwa Kawanaka

Yuya Seko

Kentaro Matsuura

Akinori Okumura

Yoshitaka Fukuzawa

Masaya Sugiyama

Masashi Mizokami

Masashi Yoneda

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most prevalent chronic viral infections that causes chronic hepatitis B (CHB). In Japan, genotypes B and C account for most of acute and chronic cases of hepatitis. However, previous studies showed that the prevalence of genotype A in CHB gradually increased every 5 years. Therefore, we have conducted a nationwide survey to comprehensively investigate the trends of HBV genotype distribution in CHB patients in Japan.

Methods: 4421 CHB patients were recruited between 2015 and 2016. Clinical characteristics and distribution of CHB patients among different age groups and genotypes in 2015-2016 was compared with those in 2000-2001, 2005-2006, and 2010-2011.

Results: The percentages of genotype A, B, C, and D were 4.0, 16.2, 79.1, and 0.7%, respectively. While the overall percentage of CHB patients with genotype A did not change in the past 5 years, CHB with genotype A increased in young adults. On the other hand, the peak distribution of CHB with genotypes B and C, two genotypes with the largest patient population, has shifted to an older age group.

Conclusions: In Japan, the peak distribution for CHB with genotypes B and C advanced to an older age group while CHB with genotype A expanded in a younger age group. Given the universal HBV vaccination launch in Japan in 2016, these pre-vaccination survey data provide important baseline information for comparative studies of the impact of universal vaccination on HBV genotypes.

Citing Articles

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