Chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause liver cirrhosis. 10 types of genotypes of HBV are found in the world. When a patient is detected with HBV, it is important to know the HBV genotype as well. So this test is conducted to find out the particular genotype before starting the treatment.
Disease severity has been found to be influenced by viral (including genotype), host, and environmental factors.
Different genotyping methods exist including sequencing, INNO-LiPA, restriction fragment polymorphism (RFLP), multiplex PCR, serotyping, oligonucleotide microarray chips, reverse dot blot, restriction fragment mass polymorphism (RFMP), invader assay, and real-time PCR.
