Grishechkin, A.E., Kazennova, E.V., Sukhanova, A.L., Belykh, S.I., Sultanov, L.V., Demiyanenko, E.R., Plotnikova, O.I., Ladnaya, N.N., Pokrovsky, V.V., Bobkov, A.F.

Molecular and epidemiological characterization of HIV-infection in the Altai Territory

Ivanovsky Research Institute of Virology, Federal and Methodological Center for Prophylaxis and Control of AIDS, Moscow; Altai Territorial Center for Prophylaxis and Control of AIDS and Infectious Diseases, Barnaul, Russia

The genetic analysis of the variants of HIV, type 1, circulating in the Altai Territory was made. The results obtained with the use of the serological analysis and the method of the comparative evaluation of the electrophoretic mobility of heteroduplexes demonstrated that almost all analyzed samples (98.3%) belonged to subtype A. Genetic differences between these viruses did not exceed 9.20%. Moreover, 86.8% of them contained mutation V77I in the protease-coding area. Thus, HIV of subtype A, characteristic of CIS countries and containing mutation V77I, may be regarded as the dominating viruses in the Altai Territory and not the viruses of subtypes B, C or A/E, typical of comparatively less remote China.
Zh. Mikrobiol. (Moscow), 2006, No. 1, P. 15—19