title: Primary infections with HIV-1 of women and their offspring in Rwanda: findings of heterogeneity at seroconversion, coinfection, and recombinants of HIV-1 subtypes A and C.
abstract: Variation in HIV-1 genomic RNA was studied in seroconversion samples from mother-child pairs from a Rwandan cohort. The mothers (n = 8) were heterosexually infected and their children (n = 6) were vertically infected by breast milk. Five of the children seroconverted within the same 3-month period as did their mothers. Highly homogeneous subtype A V3 and p17gag sequence populations were observed in three mother-child pairs, one of the two nontransmitting mothers, and one child (mean nucleotide distances 0 to 0.9%). Heterogeneous populations of subtype A V3 and p17gag sequences were found in one mother and a mother-child pair (1.4 to 2.8% for V3, 1.0 to 1.9% for p17). The second nontransmitting mother was infected with a heterogeneous AV1-V3/Cp17-p24 recombinant virus population (3. 8% for V3, 2.4% for p17). Finally, in one woman subtype C V3 sequences were observed, in addition to highly homogeneous subtype A V3 and p17gag sequence populations, also found in the child. Coexistence of subtype AV1-V3 and CV1-V3 env sequences in the mother was confirmed in a follow-up sample. The gag gene of both the maternal and the child's virus population represented an A/C recombinant sequence (Ap17/Cp24). An infection with subtype CV1-V3/p17-p24 was found upon testing of three additional participants of the mother-child cohort, indicating that subtype C is present in Rwanda. In conclusion, heterogeneity, coinfection, and intersubtype recombinants are not uncommon in primary HIV-1 infections in Rwanda.
authors.affiliation: Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 1105 AZ, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Kampinga
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simonon
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van de Perre
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karita
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Msellati
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goudsmit
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D001942:Breast Feeding; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral; D005260:Female; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000235:genetics; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000235:genetics; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000235:genetics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012432:Rwanda; D014764:Viral Proteins; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015488:HIV Antigens; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; C059761:HIV envelope protein gp120 (135-148); C059762:HIV envelope protein gp120 (305-321); D010446:Peptide Fragments; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C054858:p17 protein, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1