Objective: To provide information on the geographical distribution of HIV-1 genotypes and subtypes in the population of China.
Methods: A comprehensive search was carried out in China Hospital Knowledge Database (CHKD), Wanfang (Chinese), CBMDisc and PubMed databases to identify all studies published related to HIV-1 genotypes in China. All studies were grouped according to the sites, period and objects for analyzing the distribution of HIV genotypes.
Results: A total of 175 studies were included in this Meta-analysis, which contained 285 records. We found that the predominate genotypes in China were B' subtype, CRF01_AE, CRF07_BC and CRF08_BC, but the subtype distribution of HIV-1 was different in the western and southern parts of the country. CRF01_AE had a significant increase while subtype B' showed a decrease. There were various HIV-1 subtypes among individuals who acquired HIV through sexual contacts and CRF01_AE was most commonly identified in this group of people.
Conclusion: The distribution of HIV-1 genotypes in Chinese people significantly changed, together with high complexity of the HIV-1 epidemics noticed in China.