JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 52(2):249-252, OCTOBER 2009
DOI: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181af70a4
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PMID: 19553825
Issn Print: 1525-4135
Publication Date: October 2009
Surprisingly High Prevalence of Subtype C and Specific HIV-1 Subtype/CRF Distribution in Men Having Sex With Men in Senegal
Halimatou Ndiaye;Coumba Toure-Kane;Nicole Vidal;Fabien Niama;Pape Niang-Diallo;Tandakha Dièye;Aissatou Gaye-Diallo;Abdoulaye Wade;Martine Peeters;Souleymane Mboup;
+ Author Information
From the *Laboratoire de Bactériologie-Virologie, CHU A. Le Dantec, Dakar, Sénégal; †UMR 145, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) and Université Montpellier 1, Montpellier, France; and ‡Division de lutte contre le VIH/SIDA/IST, Dakar, Sénégal.
Abstract
Recent reports showed the high vulnerability for HIV infection of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Africa. Here, we report the HIV-1 variants that circulate among MSM in Senegal.HIV-1 subtype/circulating recombinant form (CRF) was determined in an 1800-base pair fragment of pol for 70 HIV-1-positive samples from MSM. Phylogenetic trees were constructed using the neighbor-joining method with CLUSTALX. Similarity and bootstrap plots were then done for recombination analysis. The maximum likelihood approach was used for the identification of transmission clusters.Sixty-seven samples (95%) were from Senegalese MSM, 90% unmarried with a median age of 30 years. Fifty-five MSM had regular male partners, but 39 of 70 had also a regular female partner. The overall subtype/CRF distribution was as follows: 28 C (40%), 17 CRF02_AG (24.3%), 13 B (18.6%), 6 G (8.6%), 3 CRF09_cpx (4.3%), and 3 (4.3%) unique recombinants. In addition, 47 sequences (67.15%) were segregated into 15 transmission clusters.These variants circulate also among the general population or female sex workers, but the proportions are significantly different. Despite the massive stigma, the majority (80%) of MSM recognized having sex with women and could serve as a bridge for intermixing of HIV-1 variants between high-risk men and low-risk women.
