HIV type 1 env gene diversity detected in Taiwan

Reanalysis of the HIV-1 circulating recombinant form A/E (CRF01_AE): evidence of A/E/G recombination

Circulating recombinant form (CRF) 01_AE caused an extensive HIV-1 epidemic in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Reanalysis of the recombination pattern of CRF01_AE suggested a more complicated pattern of mosaicism consisting of subtypes A, G, and E. These findings provide evidence that CRF01_AE originated from recombination between at least three different subtypes.

Molecular epidemiology and trends of HIV-1 subtypes in Taiwan

To understand the trends of distribution and risk factors associated with different HIV-1 subtypes in different populations in Taiwan, blood samples and questionnaires were collected from 267 male and 21 female HIV-1-infected people in a multicenter survey from 1993 to 1996. This group represented about one quarter of the total registered HIV-1 cases in Taiwan. The HIV-1 subtypes were determined using V3-based peptide-enzyme immunoassays complemented by heteroduplex mobility assay and phylogenetic tree analysis. The results showed that in Taiwan, men were primarily infected with HIV-1B (68.2%) and HIV-1E (27.3%), whereas women were mainly infected with non-B subtypes (4.8% A, 4.8% C, 71.4% E, and 9.5% G). In addition, 71.4% of men with HIV-1B were homosexual or bisexual, whereas 56.2% of men with HIV-1E were heterosexual (p < .001). Although HIV-1E subtype came to Taiwan later than HIV-1B, it has become a major subtype in the heterosexual population.

Molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 infection in the Philippines, 1985 to 1997: transmission of subtypes B and E and potential emergence of subtypes C and F

The molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 infection in the Philippines from 1985 to 1997 was investigated following subtyping of 54 (33 women, 21 men) prospectively collected clinical specimens using the heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA). In contrast with other Asian countries, subtype B accounted for most (70%) of the infections in the population studied, among female commercial sex workers (CSWs, 18 of 28), overseas contract workers (OCWs, 7 of 10), and men who have sex with men (MSM, 8 of 10). However, although viral specimens from HIV-seropositive persons diagnosed before 1993 (n = 16) were all of subtype B, diagnoses in more recent years (1993-present, n = 38) indicate the existence of subtypes E (29%), F (8%), and C (5%) in the population. Since its estimated introduction in the early 1990s, subtype E has accounted for 60% of the infections among female CSWs diagnosed after 1992 (n = 15). This genotype distribution shift occurred in parallel with a shift in transmission focus from the U.S. military bases to the the Philippine national capital region. So far, both events appear to have had no significant effect on the stability of HIV-1 transmission in the country. The recent identification of non-B subtypes in the Philippines may present novel insights on the dynamics of HIV-1 transmission in a high-risk but low-HIV prevalence setting in Asia.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype F reverse transcriptase sequence and drug susceptibility

We sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed the reverse transcriptase (RT) regions of the pol genes of 14 human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) isolates from Romanian patients, which were classified as subtype F on the basis of env gene structure. The RT sequences showed that the strains clustered phylogenetically and were equidistant from other HIV-1 subtypes as shown by the neighbor-joining and maximum-likelihood methods, allowing us to define HIV-1 subtype F according to the pol classification. The subtype F RT sequences differed from reported group M RT sequences by 10.94% (for nucleotides) and 7.6% (for amino acids). Phenotypic analysis of subtype F susceptibility to three classes of antiretroviral compounds showed an increase in the 50% inhibitory concentration of the tetrahydroimidazo[4,5,1-jk] [1,4]-benzodiazepin-2-(1H)-one and -thione (TIBO) derivate R82913 for one strain which was naturally resistant to this compound. This first report of subtype F pol sequences confirms the perfect correlation between the phylogenetic positions determined by env and pol analyses and suggests that virus variability might influence the efficacy of antiretroviral treatments. This finding warrants a global evaluation of the phenotypic and genotypic susceptibility of HIV-1 subtypes to antiretroviral drugs.