TY - JOUR
T1 - Transmission of hepatitis B virus infection in Gambian families revealed by phylogenetic analysis
AU - Dumpis, Uga
AU - Holmes, Edward Charles
AU - Mendy, Maimuna
AU - Hill, Adrian
AU - Thursz, Mark
AU - Hall, Andy
AU - Whittle, Hilton
AU - Karayiannis, Peter
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - Background/Aims: Transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in Africa occurs horizontally, with most people becoming infected between the ages of 1 and 5 years. The index cases in such events have been assumed to come from within the family unit or from sources outside the immediate family, such as other families or inhabitants of the same compound or village. Here, we define these routes of transmission by phylogenetic tree analysis of sequences from the entire pre-core/core region of the virus, in Gambian chronic carriers. Methods: Amplification by polymerase chain reaction of serum extracted HBV-DNA was followed by direct sequencing of the target region. Following editing and alignment of these sequences, phylogenetic tree analysis was performed using the neighbour-joining and maximum-likelihood methods. Results: Despite the overall conserved nature of the sequences of the pre-core/core region from 142 chronic carriers, distinct clusters were easily defined at the family and village level, but not on a wider geographical separation. Conclusions: Phylogenetic tree analysis of sequences obtained from family members provided strong evidence of intrafamilial transmission of HBV in at least two-thirds of the families studied from Gambia.
AB - Background/Aims: Transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in Africa occurs horizontally, with most people becoming infected between the ages of 1 and 5 years. The index cases in such events have been assumed to come from within the family unit or from sources outside the immediate family, such as other families or inhabitants of the same compound or village. Here, we define these routes of transmission by phylogenetic tree analysis of sequences from the entire pre-core/core region of the virus, in Gambian chronic carriers. Methods: Amplification by polymerase chain reaction of serum extracted HBV-DNA was followed by direct sequencing of the target region. Following editing and alignment of these sequences, phylogenetic tree analysis was performed using the neighbour-joining and maximum-likelihood methods. Results: Despite the overall conserved nature of the sequences of the pre-core/core region from 142 chronic carriers, distinct clusters were easily defined at the family and village level, but not on a wider geographical separation. Conclusions: Phylogenetic tree analysis of sequences obtained from family members provided strong evidence of intrafamilial transmission of HBV in at least two-thirds of the families studied from Gambia.
KW - Chronic carriers
KW - Gambia
KW - Hepatitis B virus
KW - Intrafamilial transmission
KW - Phylogenetic tree analysis
KW - Pre-core/core region
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034947195&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S0168-8278(01)00064-2
DO - 10.1016/S0168-8278(01)00064-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 11495049
AN - SCOPUS:0034947195
SN - 0168-8278
VL - 35
SP - 99
EP - 104
JO - Journal of Hepatology
JF - Journal of Hepatology
IS - 1
ER -