AEGiS-08IAC: Molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Edinburgh.

8th International AIDS Conference


Amsterdam, Netherlands — July 19-24, 1992

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Molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in Edinburgh.

Int Conf AIDS 1992 Jul 19-24; 8:We49 (abstract no. WeC 1026)
Holmes EC, Zhang LQ, Mackenzie P, Harvey E, Baker C, Simmonds P, Leigh BA; Division of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Edinburgh, Scotland.

OBJECTIVES: To establish, using reliable nucleotide sequence (phylogenetic) markers, contact networks of the epidemic of HIV-1 in Edinburgh. Such data will provide information on the number and origin of strains entering the Edinburgh population and whether different social/behavioural groups are characterised by different strains. The relationship between strain diversity and the number of transmission events can also be investigated.

METHODS: Approximately 350bp of the p17 region from the gag gene of HIV-1 were obtained from a large number of Edinburgh HIV patients, including haemophiliacs, intravenous drug users and heterosexuals. Phylogenetic analysis was then used to infer the relationships of the different patients and to search for specific sequence patterns.

RESULTS: Analyses showed that HIV entered the Edinburgh population from a number of different sources. The haemophiliac cohort, originally thought to have been infected by a single batch of factor VIII, are now seen to have at least 3 different viral types. Surprisingly, given the large number of possible transmission events involved, the intravenous drug user epidemic seems to have been founded by a single and different strain to those found in the haemophiliac population. All heterosexuals analysed are seen to cluster with the drug users, thus suggesting that intravenous drug use has created a bridge by which HIV-1 can enter the heterosexual population.

CONCLUSIONS: We have found that an analysis of gag HIV-1 sequences is an informative way to trace epidemiological contact networks and could be useful in cases where the precise nature of the infection is uncertain. Analysis of sequence data obtained so far suggests that the Edinburgh haemophiliac epidemic involves a variety of strains whereas intravenous drug users and heterosexuals are characterised by a single ancestral strain.

Keywords: AEGIS, HIV-1, Epidemiology, Molecular, Substance Abuse, Intravenous, Heterosexuality, HIV-1 Reverse Transcriptase, Genes, gag, Hemophilia A, Disease Outbreaks, Factor VIII, Human, genetics, ICA8KWDaegis,hiv-1,epidemiology,molecular,substanceabuse,intravenous,heterosexuality,hiv-1reversetranscriptase,genes,gag,hemophiliaa,diseaseoutbreaks,factorviii,human,genetics,ica8
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WeC1026

Copyright © 1992 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.