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Review
. 2018 May;13(6):399-404.
doi: 10.2217/fvl-2017-0159. Epub 2018 May 21.

Molecular evolution methods to study HIV-1 epidemics

Juan Á Patiño-Galindo  1   1 , Fernando González-Candelas  2   3   2   3
Affiliations
Review

Molecular evolution methods to study HIV-1 epidemics

Juan Á Patiño-Galindo et al. Future Virol. 2018 May.

Abstract

Nucleotide sequences of HIV isolates are obtained routinely to evaluate the presence of resistance mutations to antiretroviral drugs. But, beyond their clinical use, these and other viral sequences include a wealth of information that can be used to better understand and characterize the epidemiology of HIV in relevant populations. In this review, we provide a brief overview of the main methods used to analyze HIV sequences, the data bases where reference sequences can be obtained, and some caveats about the possible applications for public health of these analyses, along with some considerations about their limitations and correct usage to derive robust and reliable conclusions.

Keywords: HIV; molecular epidemiology; phylogenetics; transmission cluster.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure This work was supported by projects BFU2014-58656R and BFU2017-89594-R from MINECO (Spanish Government) and PROMETEO2016/122 from Generalitat Valenciana. JAPG is supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the NIH under award number R01GM117591. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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