Evidence for circulation of high-virulence HIV-1 subtype B variants in the United Kingdom.

ABSTRACT: The evolution of HIV-1 virulence has significant implications for epidemic control. Recent phylogenomic analyses identified low-prevalence HIV-1 variants exhibiting significant differences in disease progression. We analysed 40 888 partial HIV-1 pol sequences from the UK HIV Drug Resistance Database (UKRDB) across subtypes B, C, A1, and CRF02AG. We identified phylotypes with putative differences in transmission/phylogenetic patterns and assessed their virulence trends using pretreatment viral loads, CD4 cell counts, and four statistical methods. We classified three subtype B phylotypes-PT.B.40.UK, PT.B.69.UK, and PT.B.133.UK -as variants of interest (VOIs) due to significantly higher viral loads and/or accelerated CD4 decline. PT.B.40.UK and PT.B.69.UK exhibited higher viral loads, 4.93 lo

SUBMITTER: Franceschi VB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12257091 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature