title: Genetic and antigenic variability of HIV type 1 in Brazil.
abstract: Six Brazilian strains of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) were isolated from infected individuals residing in different regions of Brazil between 1987 and 1989. Phylogenetic analysis based on an 860-base pair env fragment, including V3, V4, V5, and the beginning of gp41, classified the Brazilian strains significantly in genotype B, with interhost distances between 5.9 and 13.1% (mean value, 10%). Amino acid sequence analysis of the V3 loop revealed that three strains contained the North American/European GPGR motif as the tip of the loop whereas in the other three strains proline (P) was substituted by tryptophan (W), methionine (M), or phenylalanine (F). A consensus peptide, Bra-cons, was designed containing GWGR as the tip of the loop. Serological reactivity to the Bra-cons peptide and other V3 peptides (MN, SF2, HBX2, RF, MAL, ELI, Z6, and a Côte d'Ivoire peptide, CI-cons) was compared for 114 HIV-1-positive sera from Rio de Janeiro. Sixty-nine sera (60.5%) reacted with peptides belonging to genotype B, of which 10 sera also reacted with peptides belonging to genotype A (n = 7) and D (n = 3). Eighteen sera (15.8%) had binding antibodies to the Bra-cons peptide. A high number of sera (n = 43; 37.7%) had no antibodies to any of the V3 peptides tested. This result suggests that HIV-1 variants with aberrant V3 loops may circulate in Rio de Janeiro.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Public Health Laboratory, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Bahia CEP, Brazil.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Couto-Fernandez
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Heyndrickx
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Motte
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fransen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peeters
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delaporte
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Galvão-Castro
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piot
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van der Groen
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001938:Brazil; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D015752:Genes, env; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D015686:Gene Products, env; D015483:HIV Antibodies