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Molecular epidemiology of HIV‐1 in Santa Catarina State confirms increases of subtype C in Southern Brazil
Author(s) -
Locateli Dayse,
Stoco Patrícia H.,
de Queiroz Artur T.L.,
Alcântara Luiz C.J.,
Ferreira Luiz G.E.,
Zanetti Carlos R.,
Rodrigues Rosângela,
Grisard Edmundo C.,
Pinto Aguinaldo R.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.20955
Subject(s) - virology , molecular epidemiology , clade , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , epidemiology , phylogenetic tree , biology , genotype , lentivirus , viral disease , gene , medicine , genetics
Recent studies have demonstrated an increased prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) subtype C in southern Brazil. Although Santa Catarina State (SC) is located in this area and presents one of the country's highest incidences of HIV/AIDS, knowledge on the molecular epidemiology of HIV‐1 in such State is lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the HIV‐1 molecular diversity and epidemiological profile of HIV‐1‐infected patients from SC. DNA samples were PCR amplified and HIV‐1 subtypes were determined using both env and gag genes by direct sequencing. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that 48% were subtype C and 23% were subtype B. Possible recombinant forms were observed for both B/C (23%) and B/F (6%) subtypes. Our results, for the first time, identifies HIV‐1 subtype C as a major clade circulating in SC and contributes to the understanding of HIV epidemics in the country by confirming the epidemic spread of the HIV‐1 subtype C in southern Brazil. J. Med. Virol. 79:1455–1463, 2007. © Wiley‐Liss, Inc.