Hepatitis B genotypic and serologic characteristics in Jordan

Abstract EN

Objective: To identify the most common hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype in Jordan Methods: Patients were recruited from the Central Blood Bank and hepatology clinic in Al-Bashir Hospital from 2010 to 2013 and tested at the Central Laboratory Directorate.

Demographic data, HBeAg status, ALT and HBV DNA were collected for all patients.

491 blood samples were examined between 2010 and 2013, 262 (53.3%) were of male gender and 229 (46.6%) were female.

Individuals were categorized after clinical and serological testing in chronic hepatitis B patients 72 (14.6%) and healthy inactive HBsAg carriers 419 (85.3%).

All patients with acceptable titer were tested for HBV genotype.

Results: From the 491 examined individuals, seventy two had HBV DNA values more than 2000 IU/ml (14.6%) while 419 had HBV DNA less than 2000 IU/ml (85.3%).

Fifty four patients (10.9%) were HBeAg positive while 379 (89.1%) were HBeAg negative.

Genotype D was the only genotype detected in our study group (100%).

Conclusion: Our study showed that the predominant genotype in Jordan is genotype D which is in concordance with genotypes found in Middle East.

In addition, most of our Jordanian individuals infected with HBV are healthy carriers, with majority of them having HBeAg negative serologic marker.

On the other hand, the majority of patients with active hepatitis B, showed HBeAg positive serological marker.