Tuesday, January 30, 2018

HIV-1 genetic diversity is higher in vaginal tract than in blood during early infection

HIV-1 and vaginal tract,new studies on HIV-1 and vaginal infections
via medicalpress.com
"A first-of-its-kind study has found that the genetic diversity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is higher in the vaginal tract than in the blood stream during early infection. This finding, published in PLOS Pathogens, supports the existence of a genetic bottleneck between the vaginal tract and the bloodstream.

When HIV-1 is transmitted from a man to a woman via intercourse, it must penetrate and infect various vaginal layers before reaching the blood. Previous research has shown that, within a patient, systemic infection is usually established by a single genetic variant of HIV-1 in the blood. However, scientists hypothesize, the vaginal tract may initially harbor a genetically diverse HIV-1 population that is then filtered down to a single variant along the path to the blood stream.

To better understand this potential genetic bottleneck, Katja Klein of the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and colleagues conducted the first study to compare HIV-1 genetic diversity between the vaginal tract and the blood in newly infected people. They collected and applied next-generation deep sequencing to HIV-1 viruses isolated from the vaginal tract and blood plasma of 75 Ugandan and Zimbabwean women within seven months of infection..."

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