More than 20.8 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, with southern Africa the worst affected area and accounting for one of the fastest growing AIDS epidemics worldwide. Samples from 81 patients, including 25 from KwaZulu-Natal, 26 from Gauteng, 5 from Mpumalanga, and 25 from Western Cape Province, were serotyped using a competitive V3 peptide enzyme immunoassay (cPEIA). Viral RNA was also isolated from serum and the V3 region amplified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) to obtain a 240-bp product for direct sequencing of 29 samples. CLUSTAL W was used to make multiple sequence alignments. Distance calculation, tree construction methods, and bootstrap analysis were done using TREECON. Subtype C-like V3 loop sequences predominate in all provinces tested in South Africa. Discordant sero- and genotype results were observed in one patient only. The correlation between sero- and genotyping was 96% (24 of 25) in KwaZulu-Natal and 100% in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. In Western Cape Province 18% of patients were identified as sero/genotype B and 82% as sero/genotype C. Our data show that results of the second-generation V3 cPEIA correlated well with V3 sequencing and would be a rapid and affordable screening test to monitor the explosive southern African HIV-1 epidemic.

BACKGROUND:Different subtypes of HIV-1 are prevalent in various geographical regions. Knowledge of their distribution is of importance with respect to possible differences in biological properties (such as reported for subtype E) as well as to diagnostic problems that may arise when specific subtypes are not recognized by standard serological assays. OBJECTIVES:The objectives of this study were to investigate the presence of the five major subtypes of HIV-1 (A-E) in the Austrian population and to estimate the prevalence of the individual subtypes in different risk groups. STUDY DESIGN:Serum samples from 88 HIV-1 positive patients were tested for the presence of subtype-specific antibodies using a peptide ELISA. RESULTS:The majority of the patients were shown to be infected with HIV-1 subtype B, but infections with subtypes A, C, and E were also detected in the Austrian population, primarily in the heterosexual transmission group. While subtypes A and C were probably imported from different African countries, subtype E appears to have been introduced by sex tourists returning from Thailand. CONCLUSION:Introduction of HIV subtypes other than B from Africa and Asia into Austria has already occurred and will certainly increase within the next few years.

AIDS Research and Human RetrovirusesVol. 13, No. 14 HIV Type 1 gag Subtype A Is Predominant in Malaysian Intravenous Drug UsersPIA KASPER, NICOLAS CHALWATZIS, GNANASOTHIE DURAISAMY, BEATUS OFENLOCH-HÄHNLE, and ELKE FAATZPIA KASPERSearch for more papers by this author, NICOLAS CHALWATZISSearch for more papers by this author, GNANASOTHIE DURAISAMYSearch for more papers by this author, BEATUS OFENLOCH-HÄHNLESearch for more papers by this author, and ELKE FAATZSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:15 Mar 2009https://doi.org/10.1089/aid.1997.13.1251AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byUnequal Evolutionary Rates in the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) Pandemic: the Evolutionary Rate of HIV-1 Slows Down When the Epidemic Rate IncreasesJournal of Virology, Vol. 81, No. 19Molecular Epidemiology of HIV in Asia and the PacificReduction of Diagnostic Window by New Fourth-Generation Human Immunodeficiency Virus Screening AssaysJournal of Clinical Microbiology, Vol. 36, No. 8 Volume 13Issue 14Sep 1997 To cite this article:PIA KASPER, NICOLAS CHALWATZIS, GNANASOTHIE DURAISAMY, BEATUS OFENLOCH-HÄHNLE, and ELKE FAATZ.HIV Type 1 gag Subtype A Is Predominant in Malaysian Intravenous Drug Users.AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.Sep 1997.1251-1253.http://doi.org/10.1089/aid.1997.13.1251Published in Volume: 13 Issue 14: March 15, 2009PDF download