Association between HIV-1 tropism and CCR5 human haplotype E in a Caucasian population.

Background: The influence of the diversity of CCR5 on HIV susceptibility and disease progression has been clearly demonstrated but how the variability of this gene influences the HIV tropism is poorly understood. We investigated whether CCR5 haplotypes are associated with HIV tropism in a Caucasian population.

Methods: We evaluated 161 HIV-positive subjects in a cross-sectional study.

Transmitted drug resistance is still low in newly diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus type 1 CRF06_cpx-infected patients in Estonia in 2010.

The presence of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) in treatment-naive HIV-1-positive subjects is of concern, especially in the countries of the former Soviet Union in which the number of subjects exposed to antiretrovirals (ARV) has exponentially increased during the past decade. We assessed the rate of TDR among newly diagnosed subjects in Estonia in 2010 and compared it to that in 2008. The study included 325 subjects (87% of all subjects tested HIV positive from January 1 to December 31, 2010).

CCR5 haplotypes influence HCV serostatus in Caucasian intravenous drug users.

Background: Up to 90% HIV-1 positive intravenous drug users (IDUs) are co-infected with HCV. Although best recognized for its function as a major co-receptor for cell entry of HIV, CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of HCV infection. Here, we investigated whether CCR5 haplotypes influence HIV-1 and HCV seropositivity among 373 Caucasian IDUs from Estonia.

Emerging transmitted drug resistance in treatment-naïve human immunodeficiency virus-1 CRF06_cpx-infected patients in Estonia.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 transmitted drug resistance in the drug-naïve population is of growing relevance in Estonia, where the number of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment-experienced subjects has been exponentially increasing during the last 10 y. The aim of this study was to estimate the rate of transmitted drug resistance among newly diagnosed subjects in Estonia in 2008. Genotypic resistance testing for viral genomic RNA was conducted for 201 subjects tested HIV-positive between 1 April and 30 November 2008.

Characterization of integrase region polymorphisms in HIV type 1 CRF06_cpx viruses in treatment-naive patients in Estonia.

Natural polymorphisms of HIV-1, often associated with drug resistance, are widely described in protease and reverse transcriptase regions but data on their presence in the integrase region, especially in non-B subtypes, are still very limited. We aimed to characterize naturally occurring polymorphisms in the integrase region in 104 treatment-naive and 10 treatment-experienced patients infected predominantly with HIV-1 CRF06_cpx and its recombinant with subtype A1 and/or CRF03_AB viruses. No primary drug resistance mutations against integrase inhibitors were found, but resistance-associated polymorphisms such as V72I, L74I, V201I, and T206S were seen in more than 90% of viruses.