title: Genetic characterization of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 from Beira, Mozambique.
abstract: In this report, we examined the genetic diversity of HIV-1 strains circulating in the city of Beira, the second largest metropolitan area in Mozambique. A total of 131 blood samples, collected between August and October 2003 from antiretroviral-naïve individuals, were characterized with a combined approach consisting of heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) subtyping for gag (n=74) and/or env (n=117) genes, and DNA sequence analysis of proviral env (C2V3C3, n=52), LTR (n=30) and/or pol (n=43) genomic regions. Aside from the identification, by bootscanning analysis, of a viral strain with a C/A1 mosaic C2V3C3 structure, classified as subtype A by env HMA, phylogenetic inference studies of the sequence data demonstrated the circulation of genetically diverse subtype C viruses, predominantly of the R5 type. Inspection of the LTR sequences revealed a pattern of structural and regulatory elements typical of subtype C, with 63.3% of the viruses showing three NF-kappaB binding sites. Analysis of the predicted protease sequences enabled us to detect a single primary mutation (I84V, n=1) associated with resistance to protease inhibitors (PI), while secondary mutations were highly prevalent, some of them in combinations which may confer PI resistance. Although an unexpectedly high rate (11.6%) of reverse transcriptase key mutations (V75A, K103N, Y181C, M184I, or P236L) was detected in the sequences analyzed, our data suggest the non-epidemic circulation of resistant viruses, and the absence of multi-class drug resistant viral strains.
authors.affiliation: UEI de Virologia/UPMM, Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Rua da Junqueira 96, P-1349-008 Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parreira
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piedade
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Domingues
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lobão
authors.forename: Marisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Venenno
authors.forename: João Luís
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.forename: Selma A S
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mussa
authors.forename: Avertino T L
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Barreto
authors.forename: Alberto João
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Esteves
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004351:Drug Resistance; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D016325:HIV Long Terminal Repeat; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009073:Mozambique / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D011247:Pregnancy; D016415:Sequence Alignment