title: Genetic variability of human immunodeficiency virus-1 in Bahia state, Northeast, Brazil: high diversity of HIV genotypes.
abstract: The HIV-1 genetic variability in Bahia state, Brazil, was investigated. DNA samples from 229 and 213 HIV-1-infected individuals were analyzed using the heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) in gag and env fragments, respectively. One hundred seventy-five samples were characterized in both genes. Thirty-two subtype F and BF recombinant viruses were sequenced and analyzed by phylogenetic methods. The combination of HMA and sequencing results showed that seven different HIV-1 genotypes comprised this sample: 147 (84%) B/B, 4 (2.3%) F/F, 3 (1.7%) B/F, 1 (0.6%) F/B, 1 (0.6%) F/D, 1 (0.6%) BF/F, and 18 (10.3%) BF/B. A significant divergence was observed between these two techniques results (84.4%). This is explained by the low accuracy of the HMA for detecting recombinant viruses. These recombinants were unrelated to CRF12, while two sequences were related to CRF28 and CRF29. Nineteen BF mosaics shared the same gag breakpoint. In conclusion, the use of HMA may be inappropriate in regions where different subtypes are co-circulating. Subtype B is the most common genotype, however, an increased prevalence (13.1%) of different BF variants and a potentially new CRF suggest that recombination is occurring frequently in Bahia. These viruses were associated with women infected heterosexually. Finally, this study identified the presence of an F/D recombinant HIV-1 in Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório Avançado de Saúde Pública, CPqGM/FIOCRUZ, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: Joana Paixão
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.forename: Luiz Carlos Junior
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Alcantara
authors.forename: Tulio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Antonio Marcos
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Marco Antônio Gomes
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brites
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Galvão-Castro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020180:Heteroduplex Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; 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: D004279:DNA, Viral; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus