Molecular prevalence of hepatitis C virus genotypes in district Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Hepatitis C Virus is a causative agents of liver cirrhosis, having highly diversified genome. Genotype study has important role in clinical setup and prognosis of hepatitis C virus infection. The aim of this was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors associated with hepatitis C virus genotypes in district Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Hepatitis C virus pre-infected patients (n = 600) were analyzed to assess circulating HCV genotypes, using reverse transcriptase approach. Moreover serum ALT levels were determined followed by correlation with genotypes. In current study cohort, majority of patients (62%) were, having elevated ALT (> 50 U/L). similarly patients with mixed HCV genotypes, 3a/3b have relatively higher ALT levels (~62) compared to 2a/3a (~43) and others. We found significant correlation (p = 0.002) of genotype 2a in connection with ALT (49.48) level. Similarly 3a, 3b, mixed as well as un-typeable genotypes correlations were also found highly significant (p