Envelope genetic variability of HIV-1 infecting human groups with differents risk sexual behaviour to adquire HIV-STD

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the genetic variability of C2-V3-C3 envelope genetic portion (env) of HIV-1 from human groups showing different sexual behavior to acquire STD/HIV. Material and methods: Fifty HIV-infected subjects were selected, which nineteen of them were male sex workers (MSW), eight female sex workers (FSW), and twenty three heterosexual subjects (HS). DNA genomic was extracted and the gen env was amplified by PCR. Genetic subtype as identified by heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) and confirmed by phylogeny. Likewise, intragenic recombination, diversity and genetic distance were analyzed for the three populations. Results: Forty nine (98%) samples were successfully amplified by PCR but only forty were sequenced. HMA and phylogeny analysis revealed that 97.5% of HIV-1 samples were subtype B, but only one sample remain unclassifiable. Likewise, short recombinant regions in gene env were found from FSW (33%), MSW (43%) and HS (45%). Finally, HIV species infecting MSW and HS showed the highest diversity nucleotide between them (Pi) (0,12 and 0,13 respectively). Conclusion: This study revealed that env gene was highly variable in MSW and HS populations, however genetic subtype and recombination frequency were similar for the three groups.