Hepatitis B Virus Surface Antigen Variants Clustered Within Immune Epitopes in Chronic Hepatitis B Carriers from Hormozgan Province, South of Iran

Abstract

Objective(s) The aim of this study was to characterize the hepatitis B virus surface protein genotypes and sequence variations among hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) positive chronic patients in Hormozgan province, south of Iran. Materials and Methods A total of 8 patients enrolled in this study. The surface gene was amplified and directly sequenced. Genotypes and nucleotide/amino acid substitutions were identified compared to the sequences obtained from the database. Results All strains belonged to genotype D. Overall 77 “mutations ” occurred at 45 nucleotide positions, of them, 44 (57.14%) were silent (no amino acid altering) and 33 (42.86%) were missense (amino acid changing). A number of 24 (80%) out of 30 amino acid changes occurred in different immune epitopes within surface protein, of which, 9 (30%) in B cell epitopes in 7 residues (2 occurred in “a ” determinant region); 8 (42.1%) in T helper epitopes in 7 residues and 7 (10%) in 4 residues inside CTL epitopes.