To elucidate the prevalence of HIV-1 subtypes and transmitted drug resistance in Henan, central China, HIV-1-positive blood samples from 187 antiretroviral-naive patients were collected in our study from August 2009 to November 2010. Subtype B¢ (92.0%, 172 of 187) remains the predominant HIV-1 subtype in Henan province and was prevalent in all risk populations and geographic regions. Of 98 pol sequences 67 (68.4%) harbored drug resistance mutations, and only 14 (14.3%, 14 of 98) sequences have mutations associated with significantly reduced phenotypic susceptibility to antiretroviral drugs. The unexpectedly high percentage of drug resistance in Henan province is mainly due to the prevalence of minor mutations in the protease and integrase regions, especially A71T/V and L68V/I/IM/LV. In all, we detected a relatively high prevalence of drug resistance with unique mutation distributions among antiretroviral-naive patients from Henan province.

The distribution of HIV-1 subtypes and genetic characterization of CRF01_AE in Guangxi, southern China were identified. The distribution of HIV-1 genotypes based on gag, pol, and partial env sequences (n=349) was as follows: CRF01_AE (66.5%), CRF08_BC (19.2%), CRF07_BC (7.2%), URF (4.6%), subtype B (1.7%), and subtype B' (0.9%). CRF01_AE predominated in all geographic regions and risk populations and there were multiple introductions of CRF01_AE strains in Guangxi. We found a peculiar CRF01_AE monophyletic lineage distinct from other CRF01_AE viruses, and we designated it "CRF01_AE-v" for convenience. CRF01_AE-v circulating in both heterosexuals and injecting drug users (IDUs) had accounted for 39.7% of CRF01_AE. It showed a selective advantage in the Guangxi population and formed its own characteristic compared with all the CRF01_AE references. Our results suggested that CRF01_AE-v was a new variant of CRF01_AE and it might lead to a new epidemic in Guangxi.

No abstract