- NEW YORK (Reuters)
- Newly-identified recombinant forms of the human immunodeficiency virus
type 1 (HIV-1) are being spread to diverse geographic regions, investigators
report, which could have implications for the development of an AIDS vaccine.
-
- Dr Martine Peeters, of the Laboratoire Retrovirus in
Montpellier, France, and colleagues characterized the genome sequences
of isolates from an individual in Senegal and one in Mali. As they report
in the Journal of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes for 15 Apr 2002
[J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2002; 29: 522-30], the 2 isolates matched
2 others described in patients from Burkina Faso and Mali.
-
- All 4 isolates comprised a mosaic genome structure that
included fragments from HIV subtypes A, G, K, and J. They matched isolates
previously described in patients from Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast,
and Nigeria. On the basis of newly proposed nomenclature, the strains are
designated CRF06-cpx. The strains have also been isolated from patients
in France and Australia, indicating global spread. Dr Peeters' group notes
the importance of seeking biological differences among subtypes and circulating
recombinant forms and tracking their molecular epidemiology; "because
recombination may introduce genetic and biological consequences that are
far greater than those resulting from the steady accumulation of single
mutations." It remains to be seen how viral recombination will affect
viral properties, such as host viral loads and drug resistance, the researchers
suggest.
-
- In another report in the same issue of the journal [J
Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2002; 29: 536-43], Dr Rafael Njera of the Instituto
de Salud Carlos III in Madrid, Spain, and colleagues detail the characterization
of the first reported recombinant to originate in western Europe. Its genome
is made up primarily of subtype G, with the extracellular portion subtype
B's env. They propose the designation CRF14_BG. The researchers also note
that a parental non-recombinant subtype strain has been isolated in the
same area, implying that the recombinant virus was most likely generated
locally in northwestern Spain or in Portugal. They postulate that sources
of the G-subtype viruses are fishermen infected by contact with prostitutes
in sub-Saharan Africa or immigrants from former Portuguese colonies in
Africa.
|
