Muhammad Shahid

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major public health issue and is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality globally. In Pakistan, the prevalence of chronic HBV infection varies from 2% to 4%, with an estimated exposure rate of approximately 34%. The major objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBV genotypes and the pattern of escape mutations in the HBV S gene in two major provinces of Pakistan: Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A total of 146 serum/plasma samples collected from hepatitis B patients were sequenced by the Sanger method. Phylogenetic analysis indicated the intermixed circulation of closely related strains of HBV genotype D and subgenotypes HBV/D1, HBV/D2, and HBV/A2 in both provinces, and various escape mutations (Y100C, P120S/T, G119R, C121S/Y, R122K, T126I, A128V, Q129H/R, G130R, T131N/I, M133T/I, Y134N, C137W, S143L, and D144E) were identified. These findings provide important insights into the current prevalence of HBV genotypes in Pakistan and will help in the establishment of more-efficient disease interventions and patient management strategies.

Using viruses to our advantage has been a huge leap for humanity. Their ability to mediate horizontal gene transfer has made them useful tools for gene therapy, vaccine development, and cancer treatment. Adenoviruses, adeno-associated viruses, retroviruses, lentiviruses, alphaviruses, and herpesviruses are a few of the most common candidates for use as therapeutic agents or efficient gene delivery systems. Efforts are being made to improve and perfect viral-vector-based therapies to overcome potential or reported drawbacks. Some preclinical trials of viral vector vaccines have yielded positive results, indicating their potential as prophylactic or therapeutic vaccine candidates. Utilization of the oncolytic activity of viruses is the future of cancer therapy, as patients will then be free from the harmful effects of chemo- or radiotherapy. This review discusses in vitro and in vivo studies showing the brilliant therapeutic potential of viruses.

OBJECTIVE: The study was aimed to evaluate the specificity, cost and turnaround time of three different techniques that can be used for analyzing the single nucleotide polymorphism of interleukin 28B (IL28B) rs129796860.METHODS: DNA from peripheral blood samples of 111 patients with chronic hepatitis C were genotyped using three types of genotyping methods: direct sequencing, SNaPshot polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and PCR‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR‐RFLP).RESULTS: Three distinct profiles for IL28B rs12979860 alleles (CC, CT and TT) were obtained with direct sequencing, SNaPshot PCR and PCR‐RFLP and the results were consistent among all three methods.CONCLUSION: For routine medical practice, screening IL28B rs12979860 can be performed by PCR‐RFLP, which is efficient and reliable as well as cost‐effective.