Va. Novitsky et al., MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY OF AN HIV-1 SUBTYPE-A SUBCLUSTER AMONG INJECTION-DRUG USERS IN THE SOUTHERN UKRAINE, AIDS research and human retroviruses, 14(12), 1998, pp. 1079-1085
Phylogenetic characterization of primary isolates from 17 HIV-l-infect
ed individuals within a recent epidemic in the city of Odessa, Ukraine
was conducted. The isolates were drawn from two time periods, 1993 an
d 1996. The 1996 isolates coincided with the first apparent expansion
of HIV-1 among injection drug users (IDU), Multi-locus phylogenetic an
alysis indicated that HIV-1 gag, env, tat, and long terminal repeat (L
TR) sequences all conformed to the HIV-1 classification of a subcluste
r within subtype A, There was no evidence for inter-subtype recombinan
ts among these isolates. A number of potential signature sequences, pa
rticularly within env, were identified in these two time periods, poss
ibly suggesting a selective pressure on viral evolution among IDU, Res
ults of this study are consistent with a recent introduction and subse
quent independent evolution of an HIV-1 subtype A subcluster among IDU
in the Southern Ukraine, This study demonstrates a congruence of mult
i-locus phylogenetic analysis, and suggests that non-B genetic subtype
s, such as HIV-1 subtype A, may become relevant to the study of IDU tr
ansmission in the future.