[The prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) subtypes in Chinese HIV-1/HCV co-infected individuals].
OBJECTIVE
To better understand the prevalence and geographic distribution of genotypes/subtypes on HCV and the relationship between HCV genotypes/subtypes and HIV infection disease progression in the HIV-1/HCV co-infected individuals living in high HIV-1 prevalent areas in China.


METHODS
186 plasma samples were collected from HIV-1 seropositive individuals infected through paid blood donors (PBD), injecting drug users(IDUs) or sexual contact, living in most severely affected provinces, Henan, Yunnan, Xinjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces. Samples with HCV viral load >1000 cop/ml were amplified by RT-nested PCR, sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed for genotyping/subtyping of HCV. HIV-1, HCV viral loads and CD4+ T lymphocytes were measured for all subjects.


RESULTS
(1) HCV were identified as 1a (1.7%), 1b (39.9%), 2a (17.9%), 3a (10.4%), 3b (15.6%), 6a (1.2%), 6n (6.4%), and a newly unclassified subtype (7.5%). HCV 2a and 1b subtypes predominated in PBD in Henan, 3a and 3b in IDUs in Xinjiang and Yunnan, and 6 genotype/subtypes in IDU in Yunnan. (2) There were no significant differences in CD4+ T cell counts among the different HCV subtypes. (3) The viral load of HCV RNA in 1b subtype was higher than that of non-1b subtype, however, no significant differences in HIV-1 viral loads and CD4+ T cell counts were found between 1b and non-lb subtype. Both HIV and HCV viral loads were lower in 2a than non-2a subtype.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of HCV genotype/subtype in HIV-1/HCV co-infected individuals was associated with geographic areas and transmission routes. HCV subtypes had no direct correlation with HIV infection disease progression.
Liu
Jing
J
The Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of the Ministry of Health, the First Hospital, China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Yang
Yang
Y
Gong
Ju-Li
JL
Zhang
Zi-Ning
ZN
Zhang
Min
M
Wang
Ya-Nan
YN
Jiang
Yong-Jun
YJ
Qi
Zhong-Tian
ZT
Pan
Qi-Chao
QC
Zhong
Ping
P
Shang
Hong
H
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000821:virology*; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D015897:Comorbidity; D018450:Disease Progression; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications*; D015497:HIV-1; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019562:Viral Load