HIV-1 Subtype C Phylodynamics in the Global Epidemic
Author Information
Author(s): Vlad Novitsky, Rui Wang, Stephen Lagakos, Max Essex
Primary Institution: Harvard School of Public Health
Hypothesis
How is HIV-1 subtype C variation in gag/Gag modulated by epidemic dynamics?
Conclusion
The study provides evidence for the overall stability of HIV-1 subtype C Gag among viruses circulating in the epidemic over the last decade.
Supporting Evidence
- 44.3% of analyzed sequences were found in clusters defined by aLRT of more than 0.90.
- Median inter-sample diversity of analyzed gag sequences was 8.7%.
- Only 4.0% of amino acid residues displayed statistically significant changes in frequency over time.
- 59.2% of amino acid residues with changing frequency were found within previously identified CTL epitopes.
Takeaway
This study looked at how HIV-1 subtype C changes over time and found that most parts of the virus stay pretty stable, even though some parts change a little.
Methodology
The study analyzed 653 unique HIV-1 subtype C gag sequences retrieved from the LANL HIV Database, grouped by sampling year, and assessed amino acid frequency changes over time.
Potential Biases
There may be risks of bias due to the uneven geographic representation of the sequences analyzed.
Limitations
The study may be limited by the geographic representation of the sampled sequences and the potential for sampling bias.
Participant Demographics
The sequences included samples from various countries, with a significant number from South Africa, Botswana, and India.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.001
Confidence Interval
95% HPD from 1928 to 1962
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Want to read the original?
Access the complete publication on the publisher's website