Genetic Characterization and Transmitted Drug Resistance of the HIV Type 1 Epidemic in Men Who Have Sex with Men in Beijing, China

Abstract

A rapid increase in the number of HIV cases in the men who have sex with men (MSM) population has been observed in China; however, little information is available on the genetic characterization of HIV prevalent in this population. In this study, 95 HIV-1-seropositive drug-naive patients from the Beijing MSM population were enrolled. The genetic characterization and transmission of drug resistance of HIV-1 were examined based on fulllength gag, pol, and partial env gene sequences. Three subtypes, including CRF01_AE (56.0%), B (30.8%), and CRF07_BC (12.6%), were identified. Close phylogenetic relationships were found among these strains with isolates from other populations in Beijing and MSM isolates from Hebei province, which suggested that the Beijing MSM population might act as a bridge for HIV transmission between MSM and other high-risk populations. Drugresistant mutations were identified in 5.3% of sampled individuals. Our results provided detailed genetic data and would be helpful for understanding the transmitting pattern of HIV strains between MSM and other populations.

Transmitted Antiretroviral Drug Resistance in the Men Who Have Sex with Men HIV Patient Cohort, Beijing, China, 2008–2011

“…On the contrary, TDR related to NNRTI and NRTI were much less frequent. Previous studies had similar findings (12,13,19). Lin Li et al found four cases carrying a TDR mutation in 76 strains among Beijing MSM patients.…”

“…Lin Li et al found four cases carrying a TDR mutation in 76 strains among Beijing MSM patients. All four cases were M46I mutations, and all of them belonged to CRF01_AE strains (13).…”

“…The TDR rate in naive MSM patients in the Liaoing province in China was reported to be 4.5%, representing 4.5% for PI-related mutations, 0.5% for NRTIrelated mutations, and 0.5% for NNRTI-related mutations (201 patients, 2003-2009) (19). Another study by Lin Li et al reported a TDR rate of 5.3% among naive MSM patients in Beijing (95 patients, 2007-2010) (13). However, in MSM, men who have sex with men; NRTI, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; NNRTI, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor; PI, protease inhibitors; single-, two-, or three-class resistance is defined as one or more TDR within one, two, or three antiretroviral drug classes, respectively.…”

CRF07_BC Strain Dominates the HIV-1 Epidemic in Injection Drug Users in Liangshan Prefecture of Sichuan, China

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13] This CRF was first identified in the intravenous drug use (IDU) population in Xinjiang province in 1997, 8,9 but recent studies have shown that CRF07_BC has been introduced into the men who have sex with men (MSM) population, suggesting that it has spread to different regions of China and across different high-risk groups. 14,15 Several studies were carried out in China to analyze the transmission and spread of the CRF07_BC strain, resulting in two hypotheses to address the temporal and spatial dynamic of the spread of CRF07_BC in the country. One hypothesis suggests that CRF07_BC originated in Yunnan and spread to Sichuan, Gansu, and finally to Xinjiang province along the drug trade route.…”

Declining trend in transmitted drug resistance detected in a prospective cohort study of acute HIV infection in Bangkok, Thailand

“…A recent meta-analysis also reported a pooled TDR prevalence of 2.9% from seven low- and middle-income countries in South and Southeast Asia [13]. Several studies of MSM cohorts in China have reported similar TDR prevalences of 4.6 to 5.3% [16,32]. …”