TRANSMISSION OF GENETICALLY DIVERSE STRAINS OF HIV-1 IN PUNE, INDIA

Surveillance of the different HIV-1 subtypes has important implication s for developing candidate vaccines and understanding the dynamics of HIV transmission in various populations. In this study, HIV-1 viral su btypes were determined for homologies in the V3-V5 region by heterodup lex mobility assay (HMA) in 46 patients with sexually transmitted dise ases (STD) in Pune, India. Proviral DNA from peripheral blood mononucl ear cells (PBMCs) from 20 recent sero-coverters and 26 HIV seropositiv e individuals were analyzed. Of the 46 samples analyzed, 44 (96%) were HIV-1 subtype C and one each of subtypes A and B. Further analyses re vealed that 29 (66%) of the C subtype samples had maximum homology to the C3-Indian reference strain, while 15 (34%) were most homologous to the C2-Zambian strain. The C3 genotype prevailed in the majority (80% ) of the seropositive individuals. Most of the C3 (Indian) strains wer e closely homologous to each other, while more nucleotide sequence div ergence was seen in C2 samples. A higher quasispecies complexity was o bserved in the samples collected from seropositive individuals. These findings may have important implications for the design and testing of effective candidate HIV-1 vaccines for India.