Trends of HIV subtypes and phylogenetic dynamics among young men who have sex with men in China, 2009-2014.

Zheng Li,Yiming Shao,Lingjie Liao,Wei Xu,Yuhua Ruan,Cui He,Jing Zhang,Yi Feng,Hui Xing,Jing Yan

doi:10.1038/srep16708

Abstract

To investigate the origins of HIV transmission and phylogenetic dynamics among men who have sex with men (MSM), a total of 1205 newly diagnosed HIV-infected 16–25 year-olds were recruited in 13 provinces across China between 2009 and 2014. Based on phylogenetic analyses of partial pol sequences, HIV-1 subtypes including CRF01_AE (45.3%), CRF07_BC (37.8%), subtype B (6.1%), and B’ (3.7%), as well as some other recombinants (7.1%) were identified. In addition to two distinct CRF01_AE clusters [cluster 4 (33.7%, 406/1205) and cluster 5 (7.1%, 85/1205)], we identified a new CRF07_BC cluster (cluster 1) (36.0%, 434/1205), which entered Chinese MSMs in 2004, and had been rapidly spreading since about 2004, which indicating the third wave of the HIV epidemic among the population. Moreover, two new clusters of CRF_01B recombinants were found in this study. The complexities of HIV subtypes and recombinants strongly supports the necessity for a comprehensive study about risk behaviors and their relationship with increasing HIV epidemic subtypes among the MSM group. Implementation and evaluation of comprehensive harm reduction strategies in Chinese MSM are urgently needed.

Highlights

Of the most important target risk populations for HIV prevention[20]
Traditional epidemiological surveys focusing on men who have sex with men (MSM) populations have been conducted, this is the first study that used bioinformatic techniques to track changes of HIV subtypes and phylogenetic dynamics among Chinese MSM
Our study found rapid changes in the proportion of HIV subtypes and seven independent clusters of HIV-1 strains in MSM

Summary

Introduction

The objective of this study is to use phylogenetic and Bayesian molecular clock analyses to clarify the origin of transmission and divergence times of the epidemic strains among newly diagnosed HIV-infected MSM in China. A total of 1205 HIV-1 nucleotide sequences of the 1.0-kb pol gene (HXB2: 2253–3278 nts) from newly diagnosed MSM between 2009 and 2014 from 13 Chinese provinces were determined and genotyped by phylogenetic tree analysis. These 3 lineages of HIV-1 strains accounted for 76.6% (923 of 1205) of the MSM infections (Table 2), and were found in all provinces/cities in our study.

Objectives

Results

Conclusion