Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.
ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga, Guimarães, Portugal.
Sci Rep. 2019 May 10;9(1):7223. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-43420-2.
HIV-1 subtypes associate with differences in transmission and disease progression. Thus, the existence of geographic hotspots of subtype diversity deepens the complexity of HIV-1/AIDS control. The already high subtype diversity in Portugal seems to be increasing due to infections with sub-subtype A1 virus. We performed phylogenetic analysis of 65 A1 sequences newly obtained from 14 Portuguese hospitals and 425 closely related database sequences. 80% of the A1 Portuguese isolates gathered in a main phylogenetic clade (MA1). Six transmission clusters were identified in MA1, encompassing isolates from Portugal, Spain, France, and United Kingdom. The most common transmission route identified was men who have sex with men. The origin of the MA1 was linked to Greece, with the first introduction to Portugal dating back to 1996 (95% HPD: 1993.6-1999.2). Individuals infected with MA1 virus revealed lower viral loads and higher CD4 T-cell counts in comparison with those infected by subtype B. The expanding A1 clusters in Portugal are connected to other European countries and share a recent common ancestor with the Greek A1 outbreak. The recent expansion of this HIV-1 subtype might be related to a slower disease progression leading to a population level delay in its diagnostic.
HIV-1 亚型与传播和疾病进展的差异有关。因此，亚型多样性的地理热点的存在加深了 HIV-1/AIDS 控制的复杂性。由于感染了 A1 亚型病毒，葡萄牙已经很高的亚型多样性似乎在增加。我们对从葡萄牙的 14 家医院和 425 个密切相关的数据库中获得的 65 个 A1 序列进行了系统发育分析。80%的葡萄牙 A1 分离株聚集在一个主要的系统发育分支（MA1）中。在 MA1 中确定了 6 个传播集群，包括来自葡萄牙、西班牙、法国和英国的分离株。确定的最常见传播途径是男男性接触者。MA1 的起源与希腊有关，葡萄牙的首例感染可以追溯到 1996 年（95% HPD：1993.6-1999.2）。与感染 B 亚型的个体相比，感染 MA1 病毒的个体病毒载量较低，CD4+T 细胞计数较高。葡萄牙不断扩大的 A1 集群与其他欧洲国家有关，与希腊的 A1 爆发有最近的共同祖先。这种 HIV-1 亚型的最近扩张可能与疾病进展较慢有关，导致其诊断在人群水平上延迟。
