MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF HIV-1 IN THE FORMER SOVIET-UNION - ANALYSISOF ENV V3 SEQUENCES AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH EPIDEMIOLOGIC DATA

Objective: To investigate the HIV-1 V3 sequence diversity in the forme r Soviet Union in 30 subjects infected with HIV-1 via different modes of transmission.Patients: A cohort of children infected after exposure to nonsterile needles during the epidemic in 1988-1989 in southern Ru ssia (Elista, n =12 and Rostov-on-Don, n = 10), and eight HIV-seroposi tive subjects from Belarus (Minsk), infected via sexual (n = 7) and pa renteral (n = 1) infection. Methods: The HIV-1 V3 encoding region was amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction on DNA of primary periph eral blood mononuclear cells collected from the study subjects and the n cloned and sequenced. Results: The alignment of 127 V3 sequences fro m 22 patients in the cohort group demonstrated common consensus sequen ces in both the Elista and Rostov samples. The average means of interp erson variation were 5.9 and 6.6% in Elista and Rostov subjects, respe ctively, and comparable to the mean intraperson variation. The average mean interperson variation between nucleotide sequences of HIV patien ts infected through sexual transmission was considerably higher (14.9% ).Conclusion: V3 sequence analysis confirms the epidemiologic data whi ch support the transmission of HIV-1 in children from a single source, and suggests the infection of a mother from her parenterally infected child. Furthermore, the genetic variability of HIV-1 V3 in the noncoh ort group was particularly divergent indicating the heterogeneity of t he virus circulating in the former Soviet Union.