Yanick DIAPA NANA1
1University of Buea, Cameroon
CaHReF 2018, Yaoundé Congres hall, 08 – 11 January 2019 , OSEP059
Background: Hepatitis C Virus infection is considered to be a major Public Health problem. Previous studies have reported a prevalence of 1.04% in the Cameroonian population. The genome of HCV is composed of a positive sense ssRNA which is known for its large diversity² and its high mutational rate.
Objectif: To evaluat mutations in HCV NS5b associated with the possibledevelopment of drug resistance in HCV patients in Douala, Cameroon
Methodology: Venous blood (5ml) was collected from 27 HCV patients attending the Douala General Hospital and Hopital Laquintinie. The study participants all consent to the study. RNA was extracted, amplified by RT-PCR and Nested PCR. The amplicons were then all subjected to a sequencing reaction for sequence analysis that was confirmed by phylogenetic analysis. Software like Mega version 7, EpiInfo and word 2013 were use in the in silico processing of the sequences. Of the 27 blood samples collected, 16 NS5b partial sequences were obtained and 4 main genotypes observed
Results: 16 NS5b partial sequences were obtained and 4 main genotypes observed. Genotype 1 (37.3%) was the most frequent followed by Genotype 2 (31.25%), Genotype 4 (25%) and an unusual Genotype 5 (6.25%) was also obtained. Of the several observed mutations, only two were linked to Sofosbuvir drug resistance: C316N (10%) and the polymorphism C289F/M (40%) at a scored position. These mutations were all analysed in an online platform (geno2pheno) and at the end could not be considered of clinicalimplication. Results from the study, demonstrate that the HCV genetic pool in the population of Douala, Cameroon is diverse and that Sofosbuvir
Conclusion/Recommandation:The HCV genetic pool of Douala, Cameroon is diverse. The existence of genotype 5a is an unusual observation and can be linked to either a breakthrough or to tourism migration of individuals around the world. Meanwhile genotypes 1, 4 and 2 are the most shared genetic variants of HCV amongst the Douala population.
There is a very low frequency of mutations associated with resistance of Sofosbuvir to HCV.
Key Words: HCV, Sequencing, phylogenetic Analysis, mutations, Sofosbuvir