Molecular characterization of HIV-1 infection in Northwest Spain (2009-2013): Investigation of the subtype F outbreak

Dimitrios Paraskevis; Evangelia Kostaki; Apostolos Beloukas; Angelina Cañizares; Antonio Aguilera; Javier Rodríguez; Marta Grandal; Berta Pernas; Angeles Castro-Iglesias; Álvaro Mena; José D Pedreira; Eva Poveda

doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2014.12.012

Molecular characterization of HIV-1 infection in Northwest Spain (2009-2013): Investigation of the subtype F outbreak

Infect Genet Evol. 2015 Mar:30:96-101. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2014.12.012. Epub 2014 Dec 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: dparask@med.uoa.gr.
² National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
³ National Retrovirus Reference Center, Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Institute of Infection & Global Health (IGH), University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
⁴ Service of Microbiology, INIBIC-Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña, A Coruña, Spain.
⁵ Service of Microbiology, Hospital Conxo-CHUS, and Department of Microbiology, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
⁶ Division of Clinical Virology, INIBIC-Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña, Universidade da Coruña, A Coruña, Spain.

PMID: 25527396
DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2014.12.012

Abstract

Background: HIV-1 subtype B is the predominant one in European regions several, while other subtypes and recombinants are also circulating with high prevalence. A sub-epidemic of subtype F with specific characteristics and low response to treatment has been recently identified in Galicia. In this study we investigated the characteristics of the HIV-1 subtype F sub-epidemic in A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela in Northwest Spain.

Methods: 420 newly HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2009-2013 were enrolled in this study. HIV-1 subtyping was carried out using automated subtyping tools and phylogenetic analysis. Molecular epidemiology investigation of subtypes B and F was performed by means of phylogenetic analysis using fast maximum likelihood. Phylodynamic analysis was performed using Bayesian method as implemented in BEAST v1.8.

Results: Subtype B found to be the predominant (61.2% and 70.4%) followed by subtype F (25.6% and 12.0%) in both areas (A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela, respectively). The latter found to mainly spread among men having sex with men (MSM). The vast majority of subtype F lineages from both areas clustered monophyletically, while subtype B sequences clustered in several tree branches. The exponential growth of subtype F sub-epidemic dated back in 2008 by means of phylodynamic analysis. Most of new infections during 2009-2013 occurred within the subtype F transmission cluster.

Conclusions: Subtype F circulates at high prevalence in A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela in Northwest Spain, suggesting that the HIV-1 epidemic in this region has distinct characteristics to the rest of Spain. Subtype F has being spreading among MSM and is currently the most actively spreading network. The single cluster spread of this local sub-epidemic might provide an explanation for the distinct characteristics and the low response to antiretroviral treatment.

Keywords: Galicia; HIV-1; Local sub-epidemic; Molecular epidemiology; Spain; Subtype F.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Disease Outbreaks*
Female
HIV Infections / epidemiology*
HIV Infections / virology*
HIV-1 / classification*
HIV-1 / genetics*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Molecular Epidemiology
Phylogeny
Spain / epidemiology