Genetic Characterization of Viral Quasispecies in Blood and Cervical Secretions of HIV-1- and HIV-2-Infected Women

Abstract

We evaluated cervical samples from 11 HIV-1- and 25 HIV-2-infected individuals. The rate of viral shedding was 36.4% for HIV-1 and 16% for HIV-2, after repeat PCRs. We sequenced multiple clones of the C2–C3 env region from cervical secretions and PBMC samples from three HIV-2-infected individuals, and the C2–V3 env region from four HIV-1-infected individuals. In most cases, phylogenetic analysis showed that the viral sequences from blood and genital secretions were intermingled and subclusters did not segregate according to sample site. In rare cases, however, tissue-specific sequences were observed, suggesting a complex relationship between quasispecies in the two sites where preferential transmission of HIV variants may be due to multiple factors.