An HIV Type 1 Subtype A Outbreak among Injecting Drug Users in Latvia

Ferdats, Andris; Konicheva, V. V.; Dievberna, Iveta; Lilja, Elisabet; Albert, Jan

doi:10.1089/088922299310007

Cited by 25 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…By 20 October 2003, the number of HIV-1 cases had reached 255,350, and more than 90% of the cases with known risk factors were IDUs. A similar situation has been observed in several other former Soviet Union republics such as Belarus [Lukashov et al, 1998], the Ukraine [Bobkov et al, 1997b;Novitsky et al, 1998], Kazakhstan [Bobkov et al, 2002], Moldova [Pandrea et al, 2001], Latvia [Ferdats et al, 1999], Lithuania [Liitsola et al, 1998], and Estonia [Ustina et al, 2001;Zetterberg et al, 2002].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Temporal trends in the HIV‐1 epidemic in Russia: Predominance of subtype A

Bobkov

Kazennova

Selimova

et al. 2004

Journal of Medical Virology

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During the period 1996-1997, three highly homogeneous variants of HIV-1 were identified, circulating among injecting drug users (IDUs) in the former Soviet Union republics. One of these belonged to HIV-1 genetic subtype A (IDU-A), another belonged to HIV-1 genetic subtype B (IDU-B) and the third was a recombinant between the first two variants (CRF03_AB). However, since 1997, the HIV-1 epidemic has affected an increasing number of geographic regions in Russia. This study was undertaken to survey the prevailing genetic variants and to estimate the current proportions of these three HIV-1 genetic subtypes in Russia. Blood samples were taken in 1999-2003 from 1090 HIV-infected individuals and analysed by gag/env HMA. The IDU-A variant was found to be the majority variant (89.7-100%) in 44 of 45 regions of the Russian Federation studied. The IDU-A variant was also found to spreading rapidly through heterosexual transmission in 1999-2003 (30/34, 88%). CRF03_AB predominates in the Kaliningrad region only (28/29, 96.6%). The IDU-B variant is currently of minor importance in the IDU epidemic but other European subtype B variants predominate among men having sex with men (18/18, 100%). Sequence analysis of the env V3 encoding regions derived from HIV-1 infected individuals in Yekaterinburg (the main centre of the HIV-1 epidemic in Russia in 2002-2003) showed that the IDU-A variant is still highly homogeneous. The mean pairwise nucleotide distance (n = 9) was 2.89 +/- 1.14 (range 1.36-6.14). However, the mean genetic distance between each sequence within the samples collected from the Yekaterinburg IDU-A variant subset and the IDU-A consensus is 2.51 +/- 1.06 (range 1.36-4.66) and considerably higher than in South Russia in 1996 (0.79 +/- 0.51, range 0.38-1.90). The current HIV-1 epidemic in Russia is almost entirely caused by a highly homogeneous A-subtype strain, which will influence vaccine development strategies and must be taken into account in the quality control of molecular tests for the diagnosis of HIV-1.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Temporal trends in the HIV‐1 epidemic in Russia: Predominance of subtype A

Bobkov

Kazennova

Selimova

et al. 2004

Journal of Medical Virology

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“…HIV-1 infection among IDUs has another unique characteristic: a very low genetic diversity among patients. The study of HIV outbreaks among IDUs in countries of the former Soviet Union, including Belarus, Ukraine, Kaliningrad, Latvia, and Russia, showed that the mean interpatient genetic distances in the C2-V3 region of the envelope were less than 2%, but a study from Nepal showed two components, one of low diversity (2,10,16,18,19,22,23). Meanwhile, the interpatient genetic distances among HIV-1 patients with heterosexual transmission were much higher, about 8% (3,23).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Recent Outbreak of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection in Southern China Was Initiated by Two Highly Homogeneous, Geographically Separated Strains, Circulating Recombinant Form AE and a Novel BC Recombinant

Piyasirisilp¹,

McCutchan

Carr

et al. 2000

J Virol

281

194

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New outbreaks of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) among injecting drug users (IDUs) are spreading in China along heroin trafficking routes. Recently, two separate HIV-1 epidemics among IDUs were reported in Guangxi, Southern China, where partial sequencing of the env gene showed subtype C and circulating recombinant form (CRF) AE. We evaluated five virtually full-length HIV-1 genome sequences from IDUs in Guangxi to determine the genetic diversity and the presence of intersubtype recombinants. Sequence analysis showed two geographically separated, highly homogeneous HIV-1 strains. B/C intersubtype recombinants were found in three IDUs from Baise City, in a mountainous region near the Yunnan-Guangxi border. These were mostly subtype C, with portions of the capsid and reverse transcriptase (RT) genes from subtype B. The subtype B portion of the capsid was located in the N-terminal domain, which has been shown to influence virus core maturation, virus infectivity, and binding to cyclophilin A, whereas the subtype B portion of RT was located in the palm subdomain, which is the active site of the enzyme. These BC recombinants differed from a BC recombinant found in Xinjiang Province in northwestern China. CRF AE strains were found in IDUs from Nanning, the capital of Guangxi, and in IDUs from Pingxiang City near the China-Vietnam border. The AE and BC recombinants were both remarkable for their low interpatient diversity, less than 1% for the full genome. Rapid spread of HIV-1 among IDUs may foster the emergence of highly homogeneous strains, including novel recombinants in regions with multiple subtypes.

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“…[6][7][8] Sequences from the viruses infecting IDUs have been obtained for patients from the southern parts of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, and Latvia. 7,9,10 All of these epidemics appear to have spread from single introductions, as indicated by the high homogeneity seen among the strains. [8][9][10] In this study, we investigated HIV diversity in the Republic of Moldova, a newly independent country of the former Soviet Union, to obtain valuable information on the driving forces behind the spread of HIV in this region.…”

Section: H IV Prevalence In Newly Independen T Countrie S Of Thementioning

confidence: 99%

HIV Type 1 Genetic Diversity and Genotypic Drug Susceptibility in the Republic of Moldova

Pandrea

Descamps²,

Collin³

et al. 2001

AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses

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HIV-1 genetic diversity and, for the first time, genotypic drug susceptibility was investigated for strains circulating in the Republic of Moldova (of the former Soviet Union). Eighty-three samples from adults recently infected by intravenous drug use (IDU) (n = 60), heterosexual contact (n = 8), and from blood donors (n = 15) that tested positive from 1997 to 1998, and originating from different regions of Moldova were serotyped. By group-specific and subtype-specific peptide ELISA, patients were infected by serotype A (n = 65), serotype B (n = 1), or were nontypable (n = 17). Heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) confirmed 11 subtype A and the one subtype B infection. Analyses of pol and env sequences for six of the IDUs confirmed that they were infected with subtype A strain. These strains clustered tightly with subtype A strains isolated from the former Soviet Union in phylogenetic analysis. No mutations associated with drug resistance were detected. The Republic of Moldova is culturally more closely related to Romania (where subtype F dominates the epidemic), but depends economically on Russia (where subtype A is established among IDUs). Thus, our results suggest that the spread of HIV in this region is driven by drug networks rather than being due to cultural similarities.

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An HIV Type 1 Subtype A Outbreak among Injecting Drug Users in Latvia

Cited by 25 publications

References 7 publications

Temporal trends in the HIV‐1 epidemic in Russia: Predominance of subtype A

Temporal trends in the HIV‐1 epidemic in Russia: Predominance of subtype A

A Recent Outbreak of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection in Southern China Was Initiated by Two Highly Homogeneous, Geographically Separated Strains, Circulating Recombinant Form AE and a Novel BC Recombinant

HIV Type 1 Genetic Diversity and Genotypic Drug Susceptibility in the Republic of Moldova

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