Abstract
Asymptomatic hepatitis B infection is characterized as a type of hepatitis in which hepatitis B surface antigen is present in the patient’s peripheral blood despite the absence of clinical symptoms. Previous studies have shown that a particular genotype may effect clinical manifestations of hepatitis B infection; hence, the aim of the current study was to determine the frequency of hepatitis B virus genotypes among asymptomatic carriers of hepatitis B.
In this experimental study, the plasma samples of 100 asymptomatic carriers were collected and tested for HBsAg and anti-HBs using ELISA. The genotype of hepatitis B virus was determined by the GAP-PCR technique.
The results of this study showed that all samples were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and anti-hepatitis B core antigen was present in 60 (60%) cases. Our results also indicated that all patients had the D genotype of hepatitis B virus.
Previous studies have shown that the D genotype is prevalent in all clinical presentations of hepatitis B infection in Iran. Hence, based on our results, it can be concluded that the hepatitis B virus genotype may not be associated with asymptomatic hepatitis B infection.