Konou Abla A, Vidal Nicole, Salou Mounerou, Anato Simplice, Singo-Tokofaï Assetina, Ekouevi Didier K, Pitché Palokinam, Prince-David Mireille, Delaporte Eric, Peeters Martine, Dagnra Anoumou Y
Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire et Immunologie (BIOLIM/FSS/UL), Faculté des Sciences de la Santé, Université de Lomé, Togo.
UMI 233, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), INSERM U1175 and Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
Infect Genet Evol. 2016 Dec;46:279-285. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.05.030. Epub 2016 May 25.
Understanding the HIV epidemic in key populations is important. Today only scarce information is available on HIV-1 strains that circulate in men having sex with men (MSM) in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we studied for the first time the genetic diversity of HIV-1 strains circulating in the MSM population in Lomé, the capital city from Togo. The overall subtype/CRF distribution in pol (protease and/or partial reverse transcriptase (RT)) among the 79 HIV-1 strains from MSM was as follows: CRF02_AG (72%, n=57), subtype G (2.5%, n=2), sub-subtype A3 (1.3%, n=1), and unique recombinant forms (URF) (24%, n=19). Among the 19 URFs four different mosaic structures were observed, annotated as URF1 to URF4. Fifteen sequences (URF1) had the same mosaic structure in pol (G/CRF02_AG) and could represent a new circulating recombinant form (CRF). Phylogenetic analysis of the RT sequences showed that there were several introductions of CRF02_AG strains in the MSM population, however half of the CRF02_AG and all URF1 strains formed a separate, well-supported cluster suggesting one major introduction of CRF02_AG in the MSM population followed by efficient transmission and emergence of a possible new CRF. At least 40% of the strains fell into recent transmission chains involving two to seven MSM. Comparison with >950 HIV-1 sequences from previous studies in Togo showed intermixing of the HIV-1 epidemics between MSM and the general population. Moreover, an HIV-1 strain from a recently HIV-1 infected male patient from Germany, fell within a cluster of HIV-1 strains from MSM from Togo, illustrating recent exchange between MSM from Africa and people from other geographic regions. With growing evidence of the importance of MSM in the dynamic of the HIV epidemic in Africa there is an urgent need for appropriate interventions to limit HIV transmission in this population group.
了解重点人群中的艾滋病毒流行情况很重要。目前，关于撒哈拉以南非洲男男性行为者（MSM）中传播的HIV-1毒株的信息稀缺。在此，我们首次研究了多哥首都洛美MSM人群中传播的HIV-1毒株的遗传多样性。来自MSM的79株HIV-1毒株中，pol区（蛋白酶和/或部分逆转录酶（RT））的总体亚型/CRF分布如下：CRF02_AG（72%，n = 57）、G亚型（2.5%，n = 2）、A3亚亚型（1.3%，n = 1）和独特重组形式（URF）（24%，n = 19）。在19种URF中，观察到四种不同的镶嵌结构，标注为URF1至URF4。15个序列（URF1）在pol区具有相同的镶嵌结构（G/CRF02_AG），可能代表一种新的流行重组形式（CRF）。RT序列的系统发育分析表明，CRF02_AG毒株多次引入MSM人群，然而，一半的CRF02_AG和所有URF1毒株形成了一个单独的、有充分支持的簇，表明CRF02_AG在MSM人群中有一次主要引入，随后是有效的传播和一种可能的新CRF的出现。至少40%的毒株属于涉及两到七名MSM的近期传播链。与多哥此前研究中的950多条HIV-1序列比较显示，MSM人群与普通人群中的HIV-1流行相互交织。此外，一名近期感染HIV-1的德国男性患者的毒株，落在来自多哥MSM的HIV-1毒株簇内，说明非洲MSM与其他地理区域人群之间近期存在交流。随着越来越多证据表明MSM在非洲艾滋病毒流行动态中的重要性，迫切需要采取适当干预措施来限制该人群中的艾滋病毒传播。
