Volume 29, Issue 3 pp. 209-217
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Evolutionary characteristics and immune mutation of hepatitis C virus genotype 1b among intravenous drug users in mainland, China

Sheng Wu

Sheng Wu

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Huangbo Yuan

Huangbo Yuan

State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Hong Fan

Hong Fan

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Yiyun Xu

Yiyun Xu

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Zhenqiu Liu

Zhenqiu Liu

State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Xuefu Wu

Xuefu Wu

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Mingshan Wu

Mingshan Wu

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Xin Zhang

Xin Zhang

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Tingting Shi

Tingting Shi

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

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Tiejun Zhang

Corresponding Author

Tiejun Zhang

Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Shanghai Institute of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety, Shanghai, China

Yiwu Research Institute, Fudan University, Yiwu, China

Correspondence

Tiejun Zhang, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai 200237, China.

Email: [email protected]

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First published: 25 January 2022

Funding information

This study was supported by the Special Foundation for Science and Technology Basic Research Program (2019FY101103), the Natural Science Foundation of China (81772170) and by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2017YFC0211704).

Abstract

China is one of the countries with the heaviest burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide, especially subtype 1b. To better control hepatitis C, insights into the characteristics of dynamic spread and genomic mutations are urgently needed. We retrieved sequences of HCV-1b NS5B among intravenous drug users (IDUs) and general people (Non-IDUs) in China from 2000 to 2011 in NCBI. Bayesian phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses were used to evaluate the transmission dynamics of HCV-1b. Non-synonymous substitutions were detected to illustrate immune adaptation. Evolutionary history demonstrated that HCV-1b effective population size experienced a sharp increase in 1990. HCV-1b sequences among IDUs had a higher estimated evolutionary rate (5.7185 × 10−3 substitutions/site/year) than overall (7.7332 × 10−4). 105/136 (77.2%) of HCV-1b sequences clustered into 38 networks. The average non-synonymous HCV-1b immune epitopes among IDUs were 0.211, higher than non-IDUs, especially in the HLA-A*02 molecular recognition region. All of these posed significant challenges for the prevention and treatment of HCV. Heterogeneity and genetic linkages of HCV-1b suggest that evolutionary surveillance of HCV in cities in east-central China and among IDUs could not be neglected.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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