Conference abstract

Genetic diversity of HIV-1 in Tunisia

Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2017:4(2).08 Nov 2017.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2017.4.2.439
Archived on: 08 Nov 2017
Contact the corresponding author
Keywords: HIV-1, Tunisia, genetic diversity, recombinant form
Abstract

Genetic diversity of HIV-1 in Tunisia

Abir El Moussi1,2,3,&, Michael Thomson4, Elena Delgado4, Maria Teresa Cuevas4, Majda Nasr1,2, Salma Abid1,2, Ilhem Boutiba1,2, Amine Slim1,2

1Unit Virology, Microbiology Laboratory, Charles Nicolle University Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia, 2Laboratory of Research "resistance to antibiotics", Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia, 3The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Geneva, Switzerland, 4HIV Biology and Variability Unit, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

&Corresponding author
Abir El Moussi, Unit Virology, Microbiology Laboratory, Charles Nicolle University Hospital, Laboratory of Research "resistance to antibiotics", Faculty of Medicine of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Geneva, Switzerland

Abstract

Introduction: in this study, the genetic diversity of HIV-1 in Tunisia was analyzed.

Methods: for this, 193 samples were collected in different regions of Tunisia between 2012 and 2015. A protease and reverse transcriptase fragment were amplified and sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses were performed through maximum likelihood and recombination was analyzed by boots canning.

Results: six HIV-1 subtypes (B, A1, G, D, C, and F2), 5 circulating recombinant forms (CRF02_AG, CRF25_cpx, CRF43_02G, CRF06_cpx, and CRF19_cpx), and 11 unique recombinant forms were identified. Subtype B (46.4%) and CRF02_AG (39.4%) were the predominant genetic forms. A group of 44 CRF02_AG sequences formed a distinct Tunisian cluster, which also included four viruses from Western Europe. Nine viruses were closely related to isolates collected in other African or in European countries.

Conclusion: a high HIV-1 genetic diversity is observed in Tunisia and the local spread of CRF02_AG is first documented in this country.