title: Short communication: molecular epidemiology of HIV type 1 infection in Kazakhstan: CRF02_AG prevalence is increasing in the southeastern provinces.
abstract: To analyze HIV-1 genetic variants in Kazakhstan, HIV-1 sequences were obtained from 205 antiretroviral-treated (ART) and naive patients in 2009-2013. Samples were collected in the most populous cities and provinces of Kazakhstan. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses of partial pol sequences, subtype A variant intravenous drug user (IDU)-A (which is dominant in the former Soviet Union) was found in 60.0% of the individuals, followed by CRF02_AG (34.6%); the rest of the samples were subtype B, CRF03_AB, CRF63_02A1, and CRF07_BC. The proportion of CRF02_AG has increased significantly since 2001-2003, when it was less than 5%. The majority of the CRF02_AG cases were found in Almaty, the former capital and the most populous city in Kazakhstan. The IDU-A variant dominated in the industrial regions of northern and central Kazakhstan and some other regions. Both dominant HIV-1 genetic variants were almost equally represented in the two main transmission groups: IDUs and heterosexuals. The analysis of drug-resistant mutations found a low prevalence of drug resistance in 165 therapy-naive individuals (3.0%). Thus, in the beginning of the second decade of the 2000s, the HIV epidemic in Kazakhstan is driven by two main genetic variants: IDU-A and CRF02_AG.
authors.affiliation: 1 Ivanovsky Institute of Virology , Moscow, Russia .
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lapovok
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kazennova
authors.forename: Vita
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Laga
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vasilyev
authors.forename: Aliya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Utegenova
authors.forename: Asylkhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abishev
authors.forename: Natalya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dzissyuk
authors.forename: Marat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tukeev
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bobkova
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007623:Kazakhstan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D055815:Young Adult; D054302:pol Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D054302:pol Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus