Imaging Flow Cytometry in HIV Infection Research: Advantages and Opportunities.

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a type of retrovirus that infects humans and belongs to the Lentivirus group. Despite the availability of effective treatments, HIV infections are still increasing in some parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Another major challenge is the growing problem of HIV becoming resistant to drugs.

The Proviral Reservoirs of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) proviral reservoirs are cells that harbor integrated HIV proviral DNA within their nuclear genomes. These cells form a heterogeneous group, represented by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), tissue-resident lymphoid and monocytic cells, and glial cells of the central nervous system. The importance of studying the properties of proviral reservoirs is connected with the inaccessibility of integrated HIV proviral DNA for modern anti-retroviral therapies (ARTs) that block virus reproduction.

Catalase Activity of IgG and κκ-IgG, λλ-IgG, and κλ-IgG Subfractions in HIV-Infected Patients and Healthy Donors.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with pronounced oxidative stress, leading to the development of various virus-associated pathologies. A wealth of evidence suggests that, along with canonical enzymes of reactive oxygen species regulation, human blood contains antibodies with peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activities. Here we show that the catalase activity of IgGs and their κκ-IgG, λλ-IgG, and κλ-IgG subfractions of HIV-infected individuals is significantly different compared to the healthy donors.

HIV drug resistance among patients experiencing antiretroviral therapy failure in Russia, 2019-2021.

Increasing HIV drug resistance is an important public health concern. The current study aimed to assess HIV drug resistance among people who live with HIV (PLWH) experiencing virological failure. Blood samples and epidemiological characteristics were collected in four Siberian regions from PLWH experiencing ART failure.

Patterns of HIV-1 drug resistance among HIV-infected patients receiving first-line antiretroviral therapy in Novosibirsk Region, Russia.

Objectives: Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs have played a vital role in controlling the HIV-1 epidemic; however, some challenges remain. ARV drugs vary in their ability to control HIV infection, displaying differences in treatment-limiting factors and genetic barriers to resistance. The current report assesses the prevalence of HIV-1 drug resistance mutations (DRMs) among patients who failed first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) and evaluates the genetic barrier of different regimens.

[Analysis of resistance-associated substitutions in hepatitis C virus sequences from Kyrgyzstan].

Introduction: The countries of Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, are characterized by high prevalence and morbidity of HCV infection. Identification of HCV genotype and mutations associated with resistance to direct-acting antiviral (DAA) plays an important role either in conducting molecular epidemiological studies or choosing the treatment tactics. The aim of the work was to research of the genotype diversity of HCV variants circulating in Kyrgyzstan and the identification among them the mutations associated with the development of resistance to DAA.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of HIV-1 CRF63_02A6 sub-epidemic.

HIV-1 epidemic in Russia is one of the fastest growing in the world reaching 1.14 million people living with HIV-1 (PLWH) in 2021. Since mid-1990s, the HIV-1 epidemic in Russia has started to grow substantially due to the multiple HIV-1 outbreaks among persons who inject drugs (PWID) leading to expansion of the HIV-1 sub-subtype A6 (former Soviet Union (FSU) subtype A).

The Blood of the HIV-Infected Patients Contains κ-IgG, λ-IgG, and Bispecific κλ-IgG, Which Possess DNase and Amylolytic Activity.

Though hundreds of thousands of papers are currently being published on HIV/AIDS, only tens of hundreds of them are devoted to the antibodies generated during the disease. Most of these papers discuss antibodies in HIV/AIDS as a diagnostic tool, and some articles describe neutralizing antibodies as a promising treatment. In this paper, we used affinity chromatography and ELISA to isolate natural IgG from the blood of 26 HIV-infected patients.

Characterization of HIV-1 Epidemic in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan has one of the highest rates of HIV-1 spread in Central Asia. In this study, we used molecular-epidemiological approaches to examine the HIV-1 epidemic in Kyrgyzstan. Samples were obtained from HIV-positive individuals who visited HIV/AIDS clinics.

Genetic Diversity of HIV-1 in Krasnoyarsk Krai: Area with High Levels of HIV-1 Recombination in Russia.

More than a quarter of HIV-infected individuals registered in Russia live in Siberia. Unlike Central Russia where HIV-1 subtype A6 is predominant, in most Siberian regions since 2012, a new HIV-1 CRF63_02A1 genetic variant has spread, with the share of this variant attaining 75-85% among newly identified HIV cases. Krasnoyarsk Krai is considered to be a high-risk territory according to morbidity rate and HIV infection incidence among the population.

Construction and Characterization of Infectious Molecular Clones of HIV-1 CRF63_02A6.

Currently, HIV-1 CRF63_02A6 is the prevalent genetic variant of the HIV-infected subjects in the major part of the Siberian Federal District (Russia). The HIV-1 CRF63_02A6 R5-tropic pT11.17 and X4-tropic pMtBs.

Consensus Integrase of a New HIV-1 Genetic Variant CRF63_02A1.

The high genetic variability of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) leads to a constant emergence of new genetic variants, including the recombinant virus CRF63_02A1, which is widespread in the Siberian Federal District of Russia. We studied HIV-1 CRF63_02A1 integrase (IN_CRF) catalyzing the incorporation of viral DNA into the genome of an infected cell. The consensus sequence was designed, recombinant integrase was obtained, and its DNA-binding and catalytic activities were characterized.

Six Highly Conserved Targets of RNAi Revealed in HIV-1-Infected Patients from Russia Are Also Present in Many HIV-1 Strains Worldwide.

RNAi has been suggested for use in gene therapy of HIV/AIDS, but the main problem is that HIV-1 is highly variable and could escape attack from the small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) due to even single nucleotide substitutions in the potential targets. To exhaustively check the variability in selected RNA targets of HIV-1, we used ultra-deep sequencing of six regions of HIV-1 from the plasma of two independent cohorts of patients from Russia. Six RNAi targets were found that are invariable in 82%-97% of viruses in both cohorts and are located inside the domains specifying reverse transcriptase (RT), integrase, vpu, gp120, and p17.

HIV-1 Epidemiology, Genetic Diversity, and Primary Drug Resistance in the Tyumen Oblast, Russia.

. Specific molecular epidemic features of HIV infection in Tyumen Oblast (TO), Russia, were studied. .

Predominance of CRF63_02A1 and multiple patterns of unique recombinant forms of CRF63_A1 among individuals with newly diagnosed HIV-1 infection in Kemerovo Oblast, Russia.

Kemerovo Oblast (KO) has had the highest rate of HIV spread in Russia since 2011. The aim of this work was to study the genetic variation of HIV-1 in Kemerovo Oblast. Blood was sampled from a total of 91 HIV-positive antiretroviral-therapy-naïve individuals in 2013 (38) and 2015 (53).

Analysis of Variability in HIV-1 Subtype A Strains in Russia Suggests a Combination of Deep Sequencing and Multitarget RNA Interference for Silencing of the Virus.

Any method for silencing the activity of the HIV-1 retrovirus should tackle the extremely high variability of HIV-1 sequences and mutational escape. We studied sequence variability in the vicinity of selected RNA interference (RNAi) targets from isolates of HIV-1 subtype A in Russia, and we propose that using artificial RNAi is a potential alternative to traditional antiretroviral therapy. We prove that using multiple RNAi targets overcomes the variability in HIV-1 isolates.

Conserved sequences in the current strains of HIV-1 subtype A in Russia are effectively targeted by artificial RNAi in vitro.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy has greatly reduced the morbidity and mortality of AIDS. However, many of the antiretroviral drugs are toxic with long-term use, and all currently used anti-HIV agents generate drug-resistant mutants. Therefore, there is a great need for new approaches to AIDS therapy.

A rapid expansion of HIV-1 CRF63_02A1 among newly diagnosed HIV-infected individuals in the Tomsk Region, Russia.

The prevalence of HIV infection in different Russian regions is nonuniform. In the Tomsk region (TR), 2020 HIV new infection cases were recorded in 2013, the morbidity having increased 5.9-fold as compared to 2012.

[A single-tube real-time RT-PCR assay for the RNA detection and quantification of genetically diverse HIV Including rare non-M group of the HIV-1 and HIV-2].

The RT-PCR method with real-time fluorescence detection was used for development of φ prototype of diagnostic kit for reliable diagnosis of genetic variants of RNA of the HIV-1 of groups M, N, O, P and RNA of the HIV-2 in blood plasma and serum. The kit is stable against nucleotide defects, provides broad linear range of concentration of the HIV RNA, 100% analytical specificity and adequate analytical sensitivity: 42 ME/ml (HIV-1 of group M), 45 copies/ml (HIV-2), 92 copies/ml (HIV-1 of group O), 90 copies/ml (HIV-1 of group N). The kit provided successful detection and measurement of HIV RNA concentration in the samples of the international reference panel of the HIV-1 genotype.

HIV-1 genetic diversity in Russia: CRF63_02A1, a new HIV type 1 genetic variant spreading in Siberia.

One of the factors determining a high degree of heterogeneity in the HIV population is recombination-based variation, which leads to the emergence of the virus variants with a mosaic genome. An example is CRF63_02A1, an HIV-1 variant currently spreading in the Siberian region of Russia. To prove that this HIV-1 variant is a new circulating recombinant form that had emerged as a result of repeated recombination between CRF02_AG and subtype A, we have isolated seven full-length HIV genomes and theoretically analyzed them, that is, reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships, determined recombination breakpoints and regions, and compared them with the regions known for CRF02_AG.

[Prevalence of mutations responsible for resistance to antiretroviral preparations among HIV-1 variants circulating in Novosibirsk region].

Aim: Analyze the diversity and prevalence of mutations in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome emerging in response to antiretroviral therapy isolated from HIV-infected individuals of Novosibirsk region in 2010, 2011.

Materials And Methods: Detection of mutations in HIV-1 genome responsible for the resistance to. antiretroviral preparations (ARVP) was carried out by determination of pol gene nucleotide sequence and subsequent analysis ofthe data obtained by program HIVdb: Genotypic Resistance Interpretation Algorithm.

[Study of biological properties of HIV-1 variants resistant to antiretroviral preparations].

Aim: Separation of HIV-1 isolates from HIV infected patients who had received antiretroviral therapy courses. Analysis of genetic and replicative properties of the separated isolates, study of pol gene mutation stability sustentation that is responsible for the emergence of drug resistance.

Materials And Methods: HIV isolate separation was carried out by co-cultivation ofperipheral blood mononuclears of HIV infected patients with previously stimulated phytohemagglutinin cells of healthy donors.