Abstract
Kazakhstan experienced the start of the HIV-1 outbreak among intravenous drug users (IDUs) in 1997. To characterize genetically HIV-1 strains circulating in this country, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) DNA samples (1999–2002) derived from HIV-infected IDUs and their sexual partners in Pavlodar (n = 19), Shymkent (n = 6), and Qaraghandy (n = 18) regions were analyzed by the gag/env heteroduplex mobility assay(HMA). The 366-bp proviral env gene fragments encoding the gp120 C2–V3 region obtained from 16 individuals were sequenced. The results of HMA revealed that all 43 HIV-1 strains studied belonged to gag/env subtype A. The nucleotide sequence analysis showed a marked genetic homogeneity with the mean genetic distance being 3.63 ± 2.39 (range 0.00–12.13). The mean genetic distance between each sequence within the Kazakhstan set and the East-European IDU subtype A consensus was 2.94 ± 1.92 (range 0.79–8.48). The data presented thus confirm the spreading of the same IDU subtype A virus in the former Soviet Union.
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