Frequency of Hepatitis B virus genotypes in hbsag positive patients in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Objective: To determine the different Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) genotypes in HBsAg positive patients. Material and Methods: One hundred and forty three HBsAg positive patients were included in the study. All patients were anti-HCV and anti-HIV negative. All the samples were confirmed for HBV DNA with Rotor GeneTM Real Time Quantitative PCR while HBV DNA positive samples were subjected to type specific PCR for HBV genotyping (A-F). Results: Of 143 samples, 107 (74.82%) were male and 36(25.17%) female, age ranged between 20-40 years. The study demonstrated genotype D in 72 (50.34%) patients as the predominant genotype in KPK population. Genotype B was observed in 37 (25.87%), genotype A in 24 (16.78%) and both genotypes B and D in 10 (6.99%) patients. Genotype C, E and F were not found in any patient. Conclusion: Our study has demonstrated a heterogeneous distribution of HBV genotypes. More extensive studies are required to investigate genetic and geographical divergence and characteristics of the virus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).