@ARTICLE{Gharehbaghian, author = {Sharifi, Z. and Gharehbaghian, A. and Noroozi, M. and }, title = {Prevalence of hepatitis B virus genotypes to be determined by sequencing in blood donors in Kerman, Esfahan and Yazd }, volume = {6}, number = {4}, abstract ={  Abstract  Background and Objectives Hepatitis B is one of the major diseases that has the potential to be transmitted by blood transfusion. Specific genotypes of hepatitis B virus are increasingly recognized for their clinical significance and association with particular viral mutations. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus genotypes in blood donors of Kerman, Yazd and Isfehan Blood Centers.   Materials and Methods Sera of 120 blood donors, who were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) using ELISA method, were selected. HBV DNA was extracted from sera using commercial kits and the p gene sequences were amplified by nested-PCR. HBV genotypes were determined by direct sequencing of the polymerase gene of HBV. The obtained sequences were aligned with Clustal W programme. Phylogenetic trees were constructed by the Neighbor-joining (NJ) method. The data were analyzed with Fisher test by SPSS 11.5   Results Out of 120 HBsAg positive volunteer blood donors, 69 (57.5% , CI 95% = 48.65-66.34)) were positive for HBV DNA sequence. Sequence analysis was done on the positive samples. Genotype D was detected among 100% of HBV infected volunteer blood donors.    Conclusions The prevalence rate of genotype D was found to be 100%. These findings may have an impact on the immunological and genetic diagnosis of HBV as well as on the selection of diagnostic kits and viral quality control panels.   Key words : Hepatitis B virus, Blood Donors, Genotype   }, URL = {http://bloodjournal.ir/article-1-366-en.html}, eprint = {http://bloodjournal.ir/article-1-366-en.pdf}, journal = {The Scientific Journal of Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization}, doi = {}, year = {2010} }