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Identification of a new hepatitis B virus recombinant D2/D3 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

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Abstract

Two hundred forty million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) worldwide. The rise of globalization has facilitated the emergence of novel HBV recombinants and genotypes. We evaluated HBV genotypes and recombinants, mutations associated with resistance to antivirals (AVs), progression of hepatic illness, and inefficient hepatitis B vaccination responses in chronically infected individuals in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Forty-five full-length and 24 partial-length sequences were obtained. The genotype distribution was as follows: A (66.7%), D (15.9%), F (11.6%) and C (4.3%). We describe a new recombinant (D2/D3), confirmed through next-generation sequencing (NGS) and reconstruction of the quasispecies sequences in silico. Primary resistance and major vaccine escape mutations were not found. We did, however, find mutations in the S region that might may be related to HBV antigenicity changes, as well as Pre-S deletions. The precore/core mutations A1762T + G1764A (40.9%) were found mostly in genotypes A and D, and G1896A (29.55%) was more frequent in genotype D than in genotype A. The genotypic distribution reflects the history of Brazilian immigration. This is the first description of recombination between genotypes D2 and D3 in Brazil. It is also the first confirmation through NGS and reconstruction of the quasispecies in silico. However, little is known about the response to treatment of recombinants. This demonstrates the need for molecular epidemiology studies involving the analysis of full-length HBV sequences.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the São Paulo Research Foundation and National Council of Technological and Scientific Development for financial support. We would also like to thank all the patients who enabled this study to be conducted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Retrovirology Laboratory, Federal University of São Paulo, 781, Pedro de Toledo st, 16° floor, São Paulo, 04039-032, SP, Brazil

    Luiz Claudio Santana, Nathalia Pena Mantovani, Maira Cicero Ferreira, Rafael Arnold, Rodrigo Lopes Sanz Duro, Paulo Roberto Abrão Ferreira, James Richard Hunter, Ricardo Sobhie Diaz & Shirley Vasconcelos Komninakis

  2. Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, 01, Augusto Corrêa st, Belém, 66075-110, PA, Brazil

    Élcio Leal

  3. Clinical Immunology Laboratory, Medical School of ABC (FMABC), 821, Príncipe de Gales Av, Santo André, 09060-650, SP, Brazil

    Shirley Vasconcelos Komninakis

Authors
  1. Luiz Claudio Santana
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  2. Nathalia Pena Mantovani
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  3. Maira Cicero Ferreira
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  4. Rafael Arnold
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  8. Élcio Leal
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  9. Ricardo Sobhie Diaz
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  10. Shirley Vasconcelos Komninakis
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Correspondence to Shirley Vasconcelos Komninakis.

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Funding

This study was Funded by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP Grant#2012/13285-0) and National Council of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq Grant# 141858/2013-3).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Santana, L.C., Mantovani, N.P., Ferreira, M.C. et al. Identification of a new hepatitis B virus recombinant D2/D3 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Arch Virol 162, 457–467 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-016-3122-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-016-3122-2

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