title: HIV-1 diversity, drug-resistant mutations, and viral evolution among high-risk individuals in phase II HIV vaccine trial sites in southern China.
abstract: HIV-1 prevalence in Guangxi, China, has been growing since 1996, when the first case was reported. Over half of HIV-1 positive patients in Guangxi Province were injecting drug users (IDUs), possibly because of the province's location near drug-trafficking routes. Since a phase II HIV vaccine trial is ongoing there, a current characterization of the subtypes of HIV-1 among IDUs in Guangxi would provide critical information for future HIV vaccine trials, as well as further control and prevention of HIV-1 transmission. Thus, we conducted a molecular epidemiological investigation of HIV-1 samples from 2008-2010 among IDUs in multiple cities in Guangxi Province. Our results, based on the gag/pol fragment, indicated a very high proportion (78.47%) of HIV-1 CRF08_BC recombinants, some CRF01_AE (15.38%) recombinants, and a low proportion of CRF07_BC (6.15%) recombinants among the IDUs. The high proportion of CRF08 HIV-1 strains among recent IDUs matches the vaccine candidate constructs. However, future vaccine development should also incorporate CRF01-targeted vaccine candidates. Distinct Env sequence evolution patterns were observed for CRF08_BC and CRF01_AE, indicating that different local selection pressures have been exerted on these two HIV-1 subtypes. Unique drug-resistant mutations were also detected, and our data indicate that HIV treatment programs should consider pre-existing drug-resistant mutations.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Institute, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Haiyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xuzhao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhiyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chunling
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Weigui
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Shihai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Zhihao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wenyan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xiao-Fang
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002681:China; D017322:Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D014764:Viral Proteins