title: Co-receptor tropism prediction among 1045 Indian HIV-1 subtype C sequences: Therapeutic implications for India.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Understanding co-receptor tropism of HIV-1 strains circulating in India will provide key analytical leverage for assessing the potential usefulness of newer antiretroviral drugs such as chemokine co-receptor antagonists among Indian HIV-infected populations. The objective of this study was to determine using in silico methods, HIV-1 tropism among a large number of Indian isolates both from primary clinical isolates as well as from database-derived sequences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  R5-tropism was seen in 96.8% of a total of 1045 HIV-1 subtype C Indian sequences. Co-receptor prediction of 15 primary clinical isolates detected two X4-tropic strains using the C-PSSM matrix. R5-tropic HIV-1 subtype C V3 sequences were conserved to a greater extent than X4-tropic strains. X4-tropic strains were obtained from subjects who had a significantly longer time since HIV diagnosis (96.5 months) compared to R5-tropic strains (20.5 months).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High prevalence of R5 tropism and greater homogeneity of the V3 sequence among HIV-1 subtype C strains in India suggests the potential benefit of CCR5 antagonists as a therapeutic option in India.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, St, John's Medical College and Hospital, St, John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore-560034, India. anitashet@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ujjwal
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Neogi
authors.forename: Sreenivasa B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Prarthana
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Souza
authors.forename: Ayesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Decosta
authors.forename: Vijesh S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Kuttiatt
authors.forename: Udaykumar
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ranga
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shet