Limited evolution in the HIV type 1 pol region among acute seroconverters in Pune, India

AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2005 Jan;21(1):93-7. doi: 10.1089/aid.2005.21.93.

Abstract

India has the second largest burden of HIV-1-infected persons worldwide. Access to antiretroviral drugs in India is increasing. We analyzed HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase sequences in 12 acute seroconverters from Pune, India, and evaluated HIV-1 evolution in these individuals over time. HIV-1 genotyping was performed with the ViroSeq HIV-1 Genotyping System. Baseline samples, collected between 1999 and 2001, had viral loads from 3,523 to 8,556,280 copies/ml. All subjects had subtype C HIV-1. None of the samples had primary drug resistance mutations. The sequence identity between baseline and 1-year samples ranged from 99.7% to 99.9%, and between baseline and 2-year samples ranged from 99.4% to 100%. Most of the nucleotide changes were silent (synonymous). Amino acid substitutions were rare, and varied from subject to subject. In this cohort, drug resistance was not observed and evolution in the pol region was very limited during the first 2 years of infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Adult
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Female
  • Genes, pol*
  • Genotype
  • HIV Infections / virology
  • HIV Protease / genetics
  • HIV Reverse Transcriptase / genetics
  • HIV Seropositivity*
  • HIV-1 / classification*
  • HIV-1 / enzymology
  • HIV-1 / genetics*
  • Humans
  • India
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Phylogeny

Substances

  • HIV Reverse Transcriptase
  • HIV Protease