MOLECULAR GENETIC ANALYSIS OF HIV-1 VARIANTS CIRCULATING IN THE REPUBLIC OF CRIMEA

Introduction : the analysis of genetic variants in the Republic of Crimea has so far been limited to the 2006 study. The prevalence of HIV infection on the peninsula is 20% higher than the national average, with 80% of infections associated with sexual transmission. In addition, interruptions in the supply of drugs since 2014 create the conditions for the active emergence of drug-resistant strains of HIV.  Objective : to study the molecular genetic variants of HIV circulating in the Republic of Crimea in 2017–2018. Materials and methods:  The work analyzes the genotype of the sequences of the HIV-1 pol gene fragment obtained from 84 infected patients observed at the Center for the Prevention and Control of AIDS of the Republic of Crimea. Results: The correlation of HIV-1 genetic variants in the studied sample reflects the molecular-epidemiological situation in Russia and Ukraine, characterized by the dominance of the A6 sub-subtype (97,6%); also revealed one sample of viruses of subtype B and recombinant form AG, unique in the sequence of the pol gene. Among the analyzed sequences from «naive» patients, there were no cases of HIV resistance. In most ART patients with treatment fail ure, multidrug resistance was found, with the M184V substitution leading in the frequency of occurrence, and the K103N substitution in the second most frequent. In 39 of 55 ART patients, treatment regimens were replaced due to a lack of drugs in stock.