THE MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF HIV INFECTION IN SAKHALIN REGION, RUSSIA

The results of the molecular epidemiological analysis of HIV-1 variants circulating in Sakhalin Oblast were presented. The HIV-1 viruses belonging to subtype A were dominated (81,14%). Besides these variants, viruses of another subtypes such as B, G and recombinant forms CRF63_02A1, URF02_AG, CRF11_cpx were identified. According to phylogenetic analysis, subtype A sequences formed the common branch with nucleotide sequences of A6 strains found in other regions of Russia. The recombinant strain CRF63_02A1 formed the common branch with HIV-1 sequences from Siberia and Russian Far East. Additional analysis using the jpHMM program revealed two unique recombinant forms (URF02_AG) formed by HIV-1 subtypes A and G. Among the viruses of subtype B, the BFSU strain, which is now widely distributed in Ukraine, has been identified. For the first time in Russia, the recombinant CRF11_cpx was detected on the Sakhalin region territory.