[Biological properties of HIV-1 variants circulating among drug users in Russia]

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 variants belonging to subtype A, as well as recombinant gaga/engvB variants, derived from HIV-infected patients living in the Moscow and Perm Regions, were isolated and characterized. Intravenous administration of psychoactive drugs was a major risk factor of the infection for all the patients. All the examined isolates of HIV-1 types A and A/B were shown to be characterized by a low virus-specific activity and to be used as secondary CCR5 and CXCR4 protein receptors. The findings suggest that the domination of subtype A variant in this risk group is unassociated with fundamental differences in biological properties between the isolates of this subtype and recombinant viruses.