Surveillance of the different HIV-1 subtypes has important implications for developing candidate vaccines and understanding the dynamics of HIV transmission in various populations. In this study, HIV-1 viral subtypes were determined for homologies in the V3-V5 region by heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) in 46 patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STD) in Pune, India. Proviral DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 20 recent sero-coverters and 26 HIV seropositive 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 revealed 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 were closely homologous to each other, while more nucleotide sequence divergence was seen in C2 samples. A higher quasispecies complexity was observed 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.
PIP: HIV-1 viral subtypes were determined for homologies in the V3-V5 region by heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) in 46 patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in Pune, India. Proviral DNA from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 20 recent seroconverters and 26 HIV-seropositive individuals were analyzed. 44 of the samples analyzed were HIV-1 subtype C, 1 sample was subtype A, and 1 sample was subtype B. 29 of the subtype C samples had maximum homology to the C3-Indian reference strain, while 15 were most homologous to the C2-Zambian strain. 80% of the seropositive subjects were infected with the C3 genotype. Most C3 strains observed were closely homologous to each other, while greater nucleotide sequence divergence was seen in the C2 samples. A higher quasi-species complexity was observed in the samples collected from seropositive individuals. These study findings may have important implications for the design and testing of effective candidate HIV-1 vaccines for India.