Background and objectives: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype (G) knowledge is essential for determining type, duration and rate of response to antiviral therapy, possible route of HCV transmission, and future vaccine development. Our aim was to study HCV genotypes and to provide precise data on genotype distribution in both genders and different age groups amongst Saudi patients.
Design and setting: Genotype data from molecular laboratories at four different tertiary care hospitals in Riyadh from January 2006 until December 2010 were collected and analyzed.
Patients and methods: Consecutive data on genotype, sex and age was collected from 1013 Saudi patients. Genotyping was done by selective hybridization of amplicons to HCV genotype-specific oligonucleotides.
Results: We found G1 in 262 patients (25.9%), G2 in 44 (4.4 %), G3 in 29 (2.9 %), G4 in 608 (60%), and 3 patients (0.3%) each of G5 and G6. In addition, 64 (6.3%) patients had mixed genotypes, mostly G4 and G1. On subtyping in 191 G1 patients, 67 (35.1%) were G1a, and 124 (64.9 %) G1b. Age distribution showed that 18 (1.7%) were 0-20 years, 173 (17.1 %) 21-40 years, 521 (51.4%) 41-60 years and 301(29.7%) > 60 years. There was no significant difference in frequency of G1, G3 and G4 among the two genders.
Conclusion: G1 and G4 are the predominant genotypes in Saudi patients infected with HCV (85.9%), with a similar distribution among the two sexes and no significant changes in genotype distribution over the past decade.