Different disease progression rate according to HIV-1 subtype

摘要

Evaluation of: Kiwanuka N, Laeyendecker O, Robb M et al.: Effect of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) subtype on disease progression in persons from Rakai, Uganda, with incident HIV-1 infection. J. Infect. Dis. 97, 707–713 (2008). HIV-1 displays great heterogeneity and can be classified into several different subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs). It has been postulated that this genomic diversity may influence differences in transmission advantage, replicative efficiency, treatment response and disease progression. Kiwanuka and colleagues analyzed, in a recently published study, the effect of genetic subtype on disease progression in patients from Rakai, Uganda. Comparison was mainly performed between subtypes A and D, which are the most frequent clades found in this region. Their data suggest that subtype D and CRFs had a higher risk of disease progression than subtype A. The molecular mechanisms underlying these differences should be investigated in further studies and include both virus- and host-related factors.