TY - JOUR
T1 - Highly divergent subtypes and new recombinant forms prevail in the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Angola
T2 - New insights into the origins of the AIDS pandemic
AU - Bártolo, Inês
AU - Rocha, Cheila
AU - Bartolomeu, José
AU - Gama, António
AU - Marcelino, Rute
AU - Fonseca, Marlene
AU - Mendes, Ana
AU - Epalanga, Marta
AU - Silva, Patrícia Cavaco
AU - Taveira, Nuno
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from Fundação GlaxoSmithKline das Ciências da Saúde and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal. Pedro Borrego is gratefully acknowledged for help in some of the phylogenetic analysis presented in this paper. Inês Bártolo is the recipient of a PhD scholarship from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal. Part of this work was presented in the 13th International Bioinformatics Workshop on Virus Evolution and Molecular Epidemiology, 9–14 September 2007, Lisbon, Portugal.
PY - 2009/7
Y1 - 2009/7
N2 - Angola, located in South-Western Africa, has a remarkably low HIV/AIDS prevalence in the adult population (3.7%). It is bordered in the North by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo that are at the origin of human HIV-1 infections. It is, therefore, likely that HIV-1 strains circulating in Angola are genetically diverse and representative of the origin of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The aim of this work was to investigate in detail the genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Angola. Almost 400 sequences were obtained from the gag (p17), pol (PR and RT) and/or env (C2C3) genes of 159 HIV-1 infected patients living in eight provinces of Angola (Benguela, Cabinda, Cuanza Norte, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Malange, Uíge, and Zaire) and their genotype was determined by phylogenetic analyses. Gene regions representing all HIV-1 group M clades were found as well as unclassifiable sequences. In env and pol (RT), two groups of sequences forming distinct sub-clusters within the subtype A radiation were found and may define new A5 and A6 sub-subtypes. Recombinant forms were found in almost half (47.1%) of the patients of which 36.0% were second-generation recombinants. Fifty-eight different patterns of recombination were found. The A subtype, including CRF02_AG, was represented in most recombinant viruses. Epidemiological data suggests that the AIDS epidemic in Angola has probably started as early as 1961, the major cause being the independence war, and spread to Portugal soon thereafter. The extraordinary degree of HIV-1 group M genetic diversity and evolution in Angola may pose unprecedented challenges to diagnostic, treatment and prevention of HIV-1 infection.
AB - Angola, located in South-Western Africa, has a remarkably low HIV/AIDS prevalence in the adult population (3.7%). It is bordered in the North by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Republic of Congo that are at the origin of human HIV-1 infections. It is, therefore, likely that HIV-1 strains circulating in Angola are genetically diverse and representative of the origin of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The aim of this work was to investigate in detail the genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Angola. Almost 400 sequences were obtained from the gag (p17), pol (PR and RT) and/or env (C2C3) genes of 159 HIV-1 infected patients living in eight provinces of Angola (Benguela, Cabinda, Cuanza Norte, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Malange, Uíge, and Zaire) and their genotype was determined by phylogenetic analyses. Gene regions representing all HIV-1 group M clades were found as well as unclassifiable sequences. In env and pol (RT), two groups of sequences forming distinct sub-clusters within the subtype A radiation were found and may define new A5 and A6 sub-subtypes. Recombinant forms were found in almost half (47.1%) of the patients of which 36.0% were second-generation recombinants. Fifty-eight different patterns of recombination were found. The A subtype, including CRF02_AG, was represented in most recombinant viruses. Epidemiological data suggests that the AIDS epidemic in Angola has probably started as early as 1961, the major cause being the independence war, and spread to Portugal soon thereafter. The extraordinary degree of HIV-1 group M genetic diversity and evolution in Angola may pose unprecedented challenges to diagnostic, treatment and prevention of HIV-1 infection.
KW - Angola
KW - HIV-1
KW - Molecular epidemiology
KW - Recombinants
KW - Subtypes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=68949103933&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.meegid.2008.05.003
DO - 10.1016/j.meegid.2008.05.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 18562253
AN - SCOPUS:68949103933
SN - 1567-1348
VL - 9
SP - 672
EP - 682
JO - Infection, Genetics and Evolution
JF - Infection, Genetics and Evolution
IS - 4
ER -