Human immunodeficiency virus type- 1 subtypes of infected patients in Espírito Santo, Brazil

Abstract

Genetic variability of human immunodeficiency virus type - 1(HIV-1) is a potential threat for both diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS, as well as the development of effective vaccines. Up to now, HIV subtypes circulating among HIV-positive patients in the state of Espírito Santo were not known. In the present study, blood samples from 100 therapy-naïve HIV-1 infected patients were collected and the HIV subtype was determined through the Heteroduplex Mobility Assay (HMA). Ninety-seven out of 100 studied samples were subtyped by HMA, 73 samples (75.2%) were from subtype B, 9 (9.3%) from subtype F, 3 (3.1%) from subtype C, 6 (6.2%) Benv/Fgag, and another 6 (6.2%) Fenv/Bgag, what suggests that recombinant viruses were present in the studied samples. Twenty-eight percent of the subtype B samples were represented by the Brazilian B" subtype, which were identified by RFLP with Fok I. Data presented here demonstrate that the epidemiological characteristics of the HIV epidemic in the state of Espírito Santo are similar to those from the other Southeastern states and helped to better understand the genetic polymorphism of HIV in Brazil

Origin and evolutionary history of HIV-1 subtype C in Brazil

“…In the south-east region the major circulating subtype is B ($70-90%), followed by F1 and BF1 recombinants ($10-30%), and a very small proportion of subtype C (<8%) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. A similar subtype distribution was also observed in the north-east and central-west regions [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24].…”

Lower genetic variability of HIV-1 and antiretroviral drug resistance in pregnant women from the state of Pará, Brazil

“…Studies on the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Brazil show that the B subtype is the most prevalent strain in all described geographical regions of the country, in addition to the decreasing prevalence of the C, D, and F subtypes and the recombinant forms [5, 18–21]. In the present study, the B subtype was also the most prevalent, followed by the F and C subtypes, which had been previously described in the cities of Belém and Macapá in the adult population [8].…”

Distribution of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtypes in the state of Amazonas, Brazil, and subtype C identification

“…The exact origin of subtype C cannot be determined due to the lack of epidemiological and historical data, sample problems and doubts regarding phylogeny (30). Subtype C is concentrated in the Southern region of this continent and other states of Brazil, including Espírito Santo (Southeast region) and Goiás (Center-West region) (17-19). Our analysis shows that the Northern subtype C isolates are more similar to the Southern subtype C samples than in other regions, supporting the idea that subtype C has been disseminated in Brazil following a South to North gradient pattern.…”

“…Although most HIV-1 infections in Brazil are subtype B, the southern region of the country represents the main subtype C focus (16). Isolated cases of this subtype have also been reported in the States of Espírito Santo, Goiás, and Rio de Janeiro (17-20). …”