Characteristics of genotype, drug resistance, and molecular transmission network among newly diagnosed HIV‐1 infections in Shenzhen, China

Abstract

The HIV-1 pandemic has persisted for four decades, and poses a major challenge to global public health. Shenzhen, a city with large number of migrant populations in China, is suffering HIV-1 epidemic. It is necessary to continuously conduct the molecular surveillance among newly diagnosed HIV-1 patients in these migrant population. In this study, plasma samples of newly diagnosed and ART-naive HIV-1 infections were collected from Shenzhen city in China. The partial genes of HIV-1 gag and pol were amplified and sequenced for the analysis of genotype, drug resistance, and molecular transmission network. Ninety-one sequences of pol gene were obtained from newly diagnosed HIV-1 infections in Shenzhen, and seven HIV-1 subtypes were revealed in this investigation. Among them, the circulating recombinant form (CRF) 07_BC was the mostly frequent subtype (53.8%, 49/91), followed by CRF01_AE (20.9%, 19/91), CRF55_01B (9.9%, 9/91), unique recombinant forms (URFs) (8.8%, 8/91), B (3.3%, 3/91), CRF59_01B (2.2%, 2/91), and CRF08_BC (1.1%, 1/91). The overall prevalence of pretreatment drug resistance (PDR) was 23.1% (21/91), and 52.38% (11/21) of the PDR was specific for the nonnucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). Furthermore, a total of 3091 pol gene sequences were used to generate 19 molecular transmission clusters, and then one growing cluster, a new cluster, and a cluster with growth reactivation were identified. The result revealed that more sexual partner, CRF_07BC subtype, and seven amino acid deletions in gag p6 region might be the influencing factors associated with the high risk of transmission behavior. Compared with CRF01_AE subtype, CRF07_BC subtype strains were more likely to form clusters in molecular transmission network. This suggests that long-term surveillance of the HIV-1 molecular transmission should be a critical measure to achieve a precise intervention for controlling the spread of HIV-1 in China.

High Genetic Diversity of HIV-1 and Active Transmission Clusters among Male-to-Male Sexual Contacts (MMSCs) in Zhuhai, China

“…We constructed a genetic transmission network at both 0.5% and 1.5% distance thresholds using the Tamura-Nei93 (TN93) model in HyPhy 2.2.4 using the pol region sequences [ 28 , 29 ]. Each patient in the molecular network was represented by a node, and nodes were linked to each other if their pairwise genetic distance was within 0.5% and 1.5% substitutions per site.…”

The origin and spread of HIV‐1 CRF59_01B epidemic in China: A molecular network and phylogeographic analysis

“…CRF59_01B is the second CRF01_AE and subtype B recombinant strain identified among MSM in China. 13 It exhibited a significant prevalence (>2%) in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, 15,16 two major cities in Guangdong, while displaying sporadic transmission in other five provinces and one municipality. 13,15,[17][18][19][20][21] The current study aimed to unravel the origin and spread of HIV-1 CRF59_01B epidemic in China through molecular network and phylogeographic analysis.…”

Acceptance and Factors Associated With Participation in Functional Cure–Related Trials Among People Living With HIV: A Cross-sectional Study in Southern China

“…1 The HIV epidemic is still a major challenge for public health worldwide. 2,3 According to data from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) is 39 million globally by the end of 2022. 4 Despite that combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV infection has achieved great success in reducing mortality and morbidity and prolonging life expectancy, 5,6 making HIV-1 infection a manageable chronic disease, it requires lifelong adherence to medication and might have…”

“…AIDS is an infectious disease caused by HIV 1 . The HIV epidemic is still a major challenge for public health worldwide 2,3 . According to data from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) is 39 million globally by the end of 2022 4 .…”