Abstract: ObjectiveTo investigate the distribution of hepatitis C virus(HCV) genotype among HCV infected patients in Jiangsu province and its relationship to infectious route and conditions of hepatic function. MethodsThe HCV genotypes of the patients were determined with PCR products of 5' untranslated region(UTR) digested with restriction endonucleases,and the relationships of genotype to age,gender,liver function and infectious route were analyzed. ResultsAmong 505 HCV RNA-positive serum samples,there were 8(1.6%) of genotype 1a,348(68.9%) of 1b,24(4.8%) of type 2,40(7.9%) of type 3,67(13.3%) of 1b/type 2,13(2.6%) of 1b/type 3,4(0.8%) of type 2/type 3,and 1(0.2%) of 1a/1b,respectively.The HCV genotype distribution was not different among the subjects of different gender and age (P_age=0.445,P_sex=0.083) but was significantly different among the patients infected with HCV by different routes(P<0.001).The alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and asparate aminotransferase(AST) levels did not show statistically significant differences among the patients infected with different genotype HCV(P_ALT=0.781,P_AST=0.217). ConclusionType 1b is the predominant HCV genotype in Jiangsu province and HCV 1a genotype shows an increased prevalent trend in mainland of China.HCV genotypes of the HCV infected patients are related to their infectious routes.