Uniparental disomy (UPD) as the cause of inconsistencies in parentage tests: report of maternal UPD of chromosome 2 and review of the literature.

Uniparental disomy (UPD) is the abnormal situation in which both members of a chromosome pair exclusively comprise material of one of the parents. The incidence of UPD is estimated in 1:2000 live births. This rare condition is relevant for medical genetics due to imprinting disorders or recessive diseases; however, it may also impact for parentage testing, leading to apparent false parentage.

Young pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS in Criciuma, Southern Brazil, are infected almost exclusively with HIV type 1 clade C.

Southern Brazil has the highest prevalence rate of AIDS in the country and is the only region in the Americas where HIV-1 C prevails. Metropolitan areas and harbor cities have been evaluated, but limited information is available for small towns and specific populations. We studied women attending the obstetric outpatient clinic of Criciuma, State of Santa Catarina in 2007 to evaluate the molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 among pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS.

Molecular characterisation of newly identified HIV-1 infections in Curitiba, Brazil: preponderance of clade C among males with recent infections.

As in many areas of Brazil, the AIDS epidemic in Curitiba is relatively stable, but surveillance is important to support public policy. The molecular characteristics of HIV may be instrumental for monitoring epidemic trends. We evaluated plasma HIV-1 RNA (n = 37) from 38 cases presenting with positive serology, who were among 820 consenting volunteers visiting the downtown counselling and serology testing centre.