Prevalence of resistance-associated substitutions and phylogenetic analysis of hepatitis C virus infection in Russia

Objectives: Due to limited hepatitis C virus (HCV) sequence availability from patients in Russia, the relationship between subtypes and baseline resistance-associated substitutions (RAS) to direct antiretroviral treatment outcome is not fully understood.

Methods: Deep sequencing of HCV NS3, NS5A, and NS5B sequences was performed on plasma HCV samples from 412 direct-acting antiviral (DAA)-naïve patients from Russia. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to investigate sequence similarities between HCV strains from Russia, Asia, Europe, and North America. Pretreatment HCV RAS was assessed with a 15% cutoff.

Results: HCV genotype GT1b and GT3a sequences in Russia were related to strains in Europe and Asia. The prevalence of GT1a and GT2a was low in Russia. In GT1b, the prevalence of NS5A Y93H was lower in Russia (6%) compared with Asia (15%). The prevalence of NS5B L159F was similar between Russia and Europe (26-39%). GT3a RAS prevalence was similar between Russia and Asia, Europe, and North America. The 2k/1b recombinant strain in Russia was related to strains from Europe. A higher prevalence of the NS5A RAS L31M (10%) was observed in 2k/1b sequences compared to GT1b (1-6%).

Conclusions: The prevalence of RASs and the phylogenetic analysis showed similarities in HCV strains between Russia, Europe, and North America. This information may be useful for HCV regimens in Russia.