HIV-1 subtype distribution and its demographic determinants in newly diagnosed patients in Europe suggest highly compartmentalized epidemics.

Background: Understanding HIV-1 subtype distribution and epidemiology can assist preventive measures and clinical decisions. Sequence variation may affect antiviral drug resistance development, disease progression, evolutionary rates and transmission routes.

Results: We investigated the subtype distribution of HIV-1 in Europe and Israel in a representative sample of patients diagnosed between 2002 and 2005 and related it to the demographic data available.

Early hCG addition to rFSH for ovarian stimulation in IVF provides better results and the cDNA copies of the hCG receptor may be an indicator of successful stimulation.

A simple, safe and cost-effective treatment protocol in ovarian stimulation is of great importance in IVF practice, especially in the case of previous unsuccessful attempts. hCG has been used as a substitute of LH because of the degree of homology between the two hormones. The main aim of this prospective randomized study was to determine, for the first time, whether low dose hCG added to rFSH for ovarian stimulation could produce better results compared to the addition of rLH in women entering IVF-ET, especially in those women that had previous IVF failures.

The calculated genetic barrier for antiretroviral drug resistance substitutions is largely similar for different HIV-1 subtypes.

Background: The genetic barrier, defined as the number of mutations required to overcome drug-selective pressure, is an important factor for the development of HIV drug resistance. Because of high variability between subtypes, particular HIV-1 subtypes could have different genetic barriers for drug resistance substitutions. This study compared the genetic barrier between subtypes using some 2000 HIV-1 sequences (>600 of non-B subtype) isolated from anti-retroviral-naive patients in Europe.

Prevalence of drug-resistant HIV-1 variants in untreated individuals in Europe: implications for clinical management.

Background: Infection with drug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) can impair the response to combination therapy. Widespread transmission of drug-resistant variants has the disturbing potential of limiting future therapy options and affecting the efficacy of postexposure prophylaxis.

Methods: We determined the baseline rate of drug resistance in 2208 therapy-naive patients recently and chronically infected with HIV-1 from 19 European countries during 1996-2002.

An automated genotyping system for analysis of HIV-1 and other microbial sequences.

Motivation: Genetic analysis of HIV-1 is important not only for vaccine development, but also to guide treatment strategies, track the emergence of new viral variants and ensure that diagnostic assays are contemporary and fully optimized. However, most genotyping methods are laborious and complex, and involve the use of multiple software applications. Here, we describe the development of an automated genotyping system that can be easily applied to HIV-1 and other rapidly evolving viral pathogens.

Reanalysis of the HIV-1 circulating recombinant form A/E (CRF01_AE): evidence of A/E/G recombination.

Circulating recombinant form (CRF) 01_AE caused an extensive HIV-1 epidemic in Thailand and Southeast Asia. Reanalysis of the recombination pattern of CRF01_AE suggested a more complicated pattern of mosaicism consisting of subtypes A, G, and E. These findings provide evidence that CRF01_AE originated from recombination between at least three different subtypes.