We further investigated the sequence variability of the HCV genomic region that entirely encodes the envelope proteins (gp35 and gp70); these sequences were derived from virus isolated during the acute and chronic phases of hepatitis in one patient, and we found that HVR1 was a major site for genetic mutations in HCV after the onset of hepatitis.
To evaluate the implications of sequence variability in HVRI of HCV, we investigated the sequence variability of the whole envelope-protein(gp35 and gp70)-coding regions of HCV genome derived from patient M in acute and relapsed phases (8-month interval) of hepatitis.