Abstract
Virological data on chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Greece are limited. HBV genotypes, surface antigen (HBsAg) subtypes, and HBsAg โaโ determinant mutations among patients infected chronically with HBV, were investigated. Serum samples from 135 HBsAg positive patients were tested. Serologic (HBsAg, antiโHBs, HBeAg, and antiโHBe), virologic (HBVโDNA quantitation) and biochemical markers (serum alanine aminotransferase/ALT and aspartate aminotransferase/AST) were analyzed. HBV genotypes and HBsAg subtypes were determined by partial sequencing of the S gene. Genotyping was performed by using the National Center for Biotechnology Information online Genotyping tool and phylogenetic analysis. Nucleotide sequences were aligned pair wise with ClustalW and phylogenetic trees were constructed by the neighborโjoining method. Sequences were also used to predict HBV HBsAg subtypes. In six patients (4%), simultaneous presence of HBsAg and antiโHBs was determined, whereas 47 patients (35%) were HBeAg positive, 84 (62.5%) were antiโHBe positive, and four patients (3%) were characterized by the simultaneous presence of HBeAg and antiโHBe. Mean ALT was 238โIU/L (standard deviationโ=โ576.84), and HBVโDNA levels ranged from 1.02โรโ10^5^ to 2.2โรโ10^7^โIU/ml. Genotype D was predominant (98%), with viral groups D/ayw2 (73%) and D/ayw3 (27%). Group A/adw accounted for 1% of cases. Genotypes B and C were found exclusively in the Chinese immigrants (1%). Single or multiple point mutations were found in 35 cases (26%). Some of the most common mutations occurred at amino acid positions 129, 133, 134, 144, 145, including the โvaccine escapeโ mutation G145R. Mutations analysis revealed that amino acid substitutions did not affect detection by commercial immunoassays. J. Med. Virol. 83:245โ252, 2011. ยฉ 2010 WileyโLiss, Inc.