HIV-1 Epidemic in the Caribbean Is Dominated by Subtype B

Yuka Nadai,Lindsay M Eyzaguirre,Noreen Jack,Jean K Carr,Peter Figueroa,Santiago Collado-Chastel,Anne Sill,Manhattan Charurat,Farley Cleghorn,Jean W Pape,Courtenay Bartholomew,Claudine Nolte,William A Blattner,Landon Myer

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0004814

Abstract

BackgroundThe molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in the Caribbean has been described using partial genome sequencing; subtype B is the most common subtype in multiple countries. To expand our knowledge of this, nearly full genome amplification, sequencing and analysis was conducted.Methodology/Principal FindingsVirion RNA from sera collected in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were reverse transcribed, PCR amplified, sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. Nearly full genomes were completed for 15 strains; partial pol was done for 67 strains. All but one of the 67 strains analyzed in pol were subtype B; the exception was a unique recombinant of subtypes B and C collected in the Dominican Republic. Of the nearly full genomes of 14 strains that were subtype B in pol, all were subtype B from one end of the genome to the other and not inter-subtype recombinants. Surprisingly, the Caribbean subtype B strains clustered significantly with each other and separate from subtype B from other parts of the pandemic.ConclusionsThe more complete analysis of HIV-1 from 4 Caribbean countries confirms previous research using partial genome analysis that the predominant subtype in circulation was subtype B. The Caribbean strains are phylogenetically distinct from other subtype B strains although the biological meaning of this finding is unclear.

Highlights

The Caribbean has the second highest HIV-1 prevalence in the world today, approximately 1% in adult men and women, exceeded only by sub-Saharan Africa [1]
Study Subjects Blood samples were drawn from patients attending the following centers: GHESKIO in Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Ministry of Health, Kingston, Jamaica; IDCP, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Medical Research Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Reverse transcription of RNA was performed using SuperScriptTM III RNase H2 Reverse Transcriptase (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) with RT3474R and UNINEF79 primers for the partial pol region and the nearly full-length genome amplification, respectively. cDNA synthesized with UNINEF79 as primer was used as template for the nearly fulllength polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with limiting-dilution methods [11]

Summary

Introduction

The Caribbean has the second highest HIV-1 prevalence in the world today, approximately 1% in adult men and women, exceeded only by sub-Saharan Africa [1]. There is quite a bit of variability between the different countries in the Caribbean, . The various epidemics in the Caribbean are driven predominantly by heterosexual intercourse, fuelled by commercial sex work in societies with widespread poverty. A background of stagnant tourism-dependent economies, early coitarche, high numbers of sexual partners for both sexes, high rates of sexually transmitted diseases, stigmatization and discrimination against sexual minorities are some of the many factors driving the Caribbean HIV-1 epidemic [2,3,4]. The molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in the Caribbean has been described using partial genome sequencing; subtype B is the most common subtype in multiple countries. To expand our knowledge of this, nearly full genome amplification, sequencing and analysis was conducted

Methods

Results

Conclusion