Transmitted HIV-1 is more virulent in heterosexual individuals than men-who-have-sex-with-men.

ABSTRACT: Transmission bottlenecks introduce selection pressures on HIV-1 that vary with the mode of transmission. Recent studies on small cohorts have suggested that stronger selection pressures lead to fitter transmitted/founder (T/F) strains. Manifestations of this selection bias at the population level have remained elusive. Here, we analysed early CD4 cell count measurements reported from ∼340,000 infected heterosexual individuals (HET) and men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), across geographies, ethnicities and calendar years. The reduction in CD4 counts early in infection is reflective of the virulence of T/F strains. MSM and HET use predominant modes of transmission, namely, anal and penile-vaginal, with among the largest differences in the selection pressures at transmission across modes. Furth

SUBMITTER: James A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8912199 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature