title: Short communication: Molecular epidemiology of HIV type 1 in the Republic of Dagestan, Russian Federation: virtually uniform circulation of subtype A, former Soviet Union variant, with predominance of the V77I(PR) subvariant.
abstract: We examine the distribution of viral genetic forms and the presence of antiretroviral drug resistance mutations in HIV-1 infections in the Republic of Dagestan, in the North Caucasus area of Russia, where a recent large increase in HIV-1 infections has been documented. Samples were collected from 41 HIV-1-infected individuals from Dagestan, most of them from the cities of Derbent (n = 21) and Mahachkala (n = 18). Thirty six were injecting drug users and five were infected by heterosexual contact. None was on antiretroviral drug treatment. HIV-1 protease and a segment of reverse transcriptase were amplified by RT-PCR from plasma RNA and sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed via maximum likelihood. Forty (97.6%) of 41 samples were of subtype A, former Soviet Union variant (A(FSU)), of which 27 (67.5%) clustered with the subvariant containing the V77I substitution in protease (V77I(PR)). Within this cluster, 13 viruses formed a local subcluster, 10 of which were from Derbent. Four viruses clustered with the A(SP2) subcluster, recently identified in St. Petersburg, two with a virus from Georgia and one with a virus from Azerbaijan. No mutations associated with antiretroviral drug resistance were detected. The results, therefore, show the relationship of the HIV-1 epidemic in Dagestan with that of other areas of Russia and of neighboring countries, and reveal the spread of the A(FSU) V77I(PR) variant in the North Caucasus area.
authors.affiliation: St. Petersburg AIDS Center, St. Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vinogradova
authors.forename: Elmira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gafurova
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Nieto
authors.forename: Aza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakhmanova
authors.forename: Saladin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Osmanov
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Thomson
mesh_terms: D001382:Azerbaijan; D003610:Dagestan / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005846:Georgia (Republic); D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D016333:HIV Protease / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral; C514824:reverse transcriptase, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D016333:HIV Protease