A clustering phenomenon among HCV-1a strains among patients coinfected with HIV from Buenos Aires, Argentina

J Med Virol. 2012 Apr;84(4):570-81. doi: 10.1002/jmv.23243.

Abstract

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) share the same transmission routes which lead to high coinfection rates. Among HIV-infected individuals such rates reached 21% in Argentina, being HCV-1a the most predominant subtype. In this work, 25 HCV subtype 1a (HCV-1a) strains from Argentinean patients coinfected with HIV were studied based on E2 and NS5A sequences. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that 12 strains were highly related to each other, constituting a highly supported (posterior probability = 0.95) monophyletic group that we called "M." The remaining HCV strains (group dispersed or "D") were interspersed along the phylogenetic trees. When comparing both groups of HCV-1a, 10 amino acid differences were located in functional domains of E2 and NS5A proteins that appeared to affect eventually the peptides binding to MHC-I molecules thus favoring immune escape and contributing to the divergence of HCV genotypes. Bayesian coalescent analyses for HCV-1a cluster M isolates indicated that the time to the most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) overlaps with the age estimated recently for the HIV-BF epidemic in Argentina. Furthermore, the genomic characterization based on pol gene analysis from HIV viremic patients showed that most HIV isolates from patients coinfected with HCV-1a cluster M were BF recombinants with identical recombination patterns. In conclusion, these results suggest the presence of an HCV-1a monophyletic cluster with a potential HIV co-transmission by phylogenetic analyses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Argentina / epidemiology
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Genotype
  • HIV Infections / complications*
  • Hepacivirus / classification*
  • Hepacivirus / genetics*
  • Hepacivirus / isolation & purification
  • Hepatitis C / epidemiology*
  • Hepatitis C / virology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Viral Envelope Proteins / genetics
  • Viral Nonstructural Proteins / genetics

Substances

  • Viral Envelope Proteins
  • Viral Nonstructural Proteins
  • glycoprotein E2, Hepatitis C virus
  • NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus

Associated data

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