Possible widespread presence of hepatitis A virus subgenotype IIIA in Japan: Recent trend of hepatitis A causing acute liver failure

Tatsuo Miyamura; Koji Ishii; Tatsuo Kanda; Akinobu Tawada; Tadashi Sekimoto; Shuang Wu; Shingo Nakamoto; Makoto Arai; Keiichi Fujiwara; Fumio Imazeki; Tomoko Kiyohara; Takaji Wakita; Osamu Yokosuka

doi:10.1111/j.1872-034X.2011.00919.x

Possible widespread presence of hepatitis A virus subgenotype IIIA in Japan: Recent trend of hepatitis A causing acute liver failure

Hepatol Res. 2012 Mar;42(3):248-53. doi: 10.1111/j.1872-034X.2011.00919.x. Epub 2011 Dec 13.

Authors

Tatsuo Miyamura¹, Koji Ishii, Tatsuo Kanda, Akinobu Tawada, Tadashi Sekimoto, Shuang Wu, Shingo Nakamoto, Makoto Arai, Keiichi Fujiwara, Fumio Imazeki, Tomoko Kiyohara, Takaji Wakita, Osamu Yokosuka

Affiliation

¹ Department of Medicine and Clinical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 22151794
DOI: 10.1111/j.1872-034X.2011.00919.x

Abstract

Aim: Recently, the number of acute hepatitis A cases has decreased in Japan. However, six patients with acute liver failure caused by hepatitis A virus (HAV) have been admitted to Chiba University Hospital, Japan, in the last 18 months, between 2010 and June 2011. The aim of this study is to characterize the recent HAV genotypes from an urban hospital in Japan and to compare the clinical differences.

Methods: Hepatitis A virus RNA was detected by strand-specific reverse transcription. Then, HAV VP1/2A regions were amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Sequences were directly determined and phylogenetic trees were constructed for determining HAV subgenotypes.

Results: Analysis of these HAV genomes revealed that 4 and 2 belonged to subgenotypes IA and IIIA, respectively.

Conclusions: Fujiwara et al. reported a frequency of HAV subgenotype IIIA of only 2.1% in Japan. We conclude that HAV subgenotype IIIA might be widespread in our country.