title: High divergence within the major HIV type 1 subtype B epidemic in Panama.
abstract: The first molecular epidemiology study of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in Panama has been performed with plasma samples from 66 AIDS patients infected by different transmission routes and obtained from distinct locations. All samples were amplified by RT-PCR and sequenced in gag (p17) and env (C2-C4) genes. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that 64 (97%) of the samples belong to subtype B. We also identified the presence of two CRF, one CRF12_BF and one CRF02_AG. The most notable feature of the subtype B epidemic in Panama was the large genetic distance among isolates with a mean of 15.2% but reaching up to 31.3 % in env, indicating an epidemic with a long period of evolution.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Virología Molecular, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahumada-Ruiz
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Casado
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Toala-González
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Flores-Figueroa
authors.forename: Amalia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-French
authors.forename: Cecilio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: López-Galíndez
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010176:Panama / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D010949:Plasma / Q000821:virology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus