[Serological properties of HIV-1 isolates from the focus of an epidemic in the Gomel region of the Belarus Republic (1996)].

Immunoreactivity of sera obtained in 1996 from HIV-1-infected intravenous narcomaniacs from an epidemic focus in Gomel region, Belarus, is studied with a panel of 10-16-component synthetic peptides simulating apical epitope of surface glycoprotein gp120 V3 loop of HIV-1 variants. Comparative analysis of resultant spectra with representative immunoreactivity spectra of sera from a sampling of HIV-1-positive sera collected in 1986-1997 in different regions of the former USSR demonstrated a high homogeneity of immunoreactivity spectra of sera from Gomel region. Serotypes of HIV-1 A/C variants circulating in populations of intravenous narcomaniacs in the focus in Gomel region in 1996 and in Southern and South-Eastern Ukraine in 1995-1996 are similar.

[Serotypical stratification of HIV-1 in populations of intravenous drug users in the south/southwestern Ukraine].

A total of 101 HIV-1 positive sera from intravenous drug users (IVDU) in Southern and South-Eastern Ukraine were serotyped using V3-mimicking peptides. Serotype B circulates in Nikolaev and type A/C in Odessa and Donetsk. Prevalence of A/C serotype in the population of IVDU is a characteristic feature of the epidemic situation in this region, in contrast to the USA and Western Europe, where subtype B circulates.