Genetic Variants of HIV Type 1 in Men Who Have Sex with Men in Russia

Abstract

The men who have sex with men (MSM) population infected with HIV is poorly studied in Russia because of stigma and discrimination. In the first years of the HIV epidemic, the only HIV genetic variant that circulated among MSM was subtype B, usually acquired abroad. Meanwhile, the massive epidemic of HIV in Russia was caused by a highly homogenic subtype A variant, A (A6), and spread mainly among drug users. In this study, 155 HIV pol sequences from MSM collected during the 2006-2016 period were analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis found that 19.4% of the viral sequences from MSM clustered with HIV genetic variants A6 and B, which were previously identified only among drug users and their heterosexual partners. These data show that the MSM population in Russia is gradually becoming less isolated from the general epidemic process. Urgent measures should be taken to prevent the spread of HIV among the MSM population.

HIV-1 Sub-Subtype A6: Settings for Normalised Identification and Molecular Epidemiology in the Southern Federal District, Russia

“…In West/Central Europe and North America, MSM is the most affected group, both in cumulative incidence and new infections, and these infections correlate with subtype B [1]. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, MSM represent only 6% of new infections, though they also correlate with this subtype [3,26]. Specifically, in Southern Russia less than 3% of the patients reported to be MSM and this transmission route also correlated with subtype B viruses.…”

“…Yet, 25% of our samples with unknown transmission route were classified as subtype B, suggesting that they may indeed represent cases of withheld MSM transmission. Underrepresentation of MSM in epidemiological analyses is indeed expected as marked social discrimination complicates their enrolment in clinical studies and, upon inclusion, some of them may report a different transmission route, mostly heterosexual [2,3,26].…”

Infant transmitted/founder HIV-1 viruses from peripartum transmission are neutralization resistant to paired maternal plasma

“…Six out of 16 (37%) peripartum-infected infants were infected by at least 2 T/F viruses. Infection with multiple T/F viruses occurs in approximately 19–24% of heterosexual HIV infections [ 26 , 47 , 48 ], and 12–38% of homosexual infections [ 49 – 51 ], whereas up to 60% of infections that occur through intravenous drug use involve multiple T/Fs [ 52 ]. Thus, the rate of multiple T/F transmissions in this mother-infant cohort is in line with or slightly higher than sexual transmission modes, but lower than that of transmission via intravenous drug use.…”

Molecular Epidemiology of HIV-1 Virus in Puerto Rico: Novel Cases of HIV-1 Subtype C, D, and CRF-24BG

“…[3][4][5] HIV-1 genetic variability is used to classify the virus into four distinct groups: M, N, O and P; group M (for major) has nine subtypes (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, B, C, D, F1, F2, G, H, J, and K). [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Nevertheless, recombination is the major determinant of viral genetic diversity, which occurs during reverse transcription of co-packaged viral RNA. 15,16 A possible source of recombination is the co-infection between two different strains.…”