Phylogenetic and mathematical analysis to investigate putative mother-to-infant transmission chains when only GBV-C / Hepatitis G 5´NCR sequences are available.

MATHET VL, ; ESPÍNOLA L, ; RUIZ V, ; MARÍNCOLA A, ; QUARLERI JF, ; CEVALLOS A, ; MARTÍNEZ PERALTA L, ; NATAL M, ; HAEDO A, ; SÁNCHEZ DO, ; OUBIÑA JR

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY

AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY

Lugar: wASHINGTON; Año: 2003 vol. 44 p. 4489 - 4491

0095-1137

To investigate GB virus C (GBV-C)/hepatitis G virus (HGV) mother-to-infant transmission when only 5 noncoding region (NCR) sequences were available, a retrospective study was carried out. Although the 5 NCR is widely used for GBVC/ HGV detection due to the high degree of sequence conservation among isolates (8), this fact clearly limits its potential use to trace chains of transmission, despite the presence of scattered subregions with higher heterogeneity. Nevertheless, since the 5 NCR has been reported to be unmodified after 8.4 years of evolution (5), a mother-to-infant chain was expected to show (almost) identical sequences unless specific 5 NCR variants were involved in selective transmission. Analyzed sequences were obtained from (i) a study group which encompassed plasma samples simultaneously obtained from 34 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected mothers (13 intravenous-drug users [IVDU] and 21 nonaddict women putatively infected by a heterosexual route [IHSR]) as well as from their respective infants (1 to 7 months old, without history of blood transfusion) born to either HIV-positive and GBVC/ HGV-infected mothers (n 8) or to HIV-positive but GBVC/ HGV nonviremic mothers (n 26) and (ii) a control group which comprised 31 5 NCR sequences derived from contemporary isolates circulating in the city of Buenos Aires and 6 others from the rest of the world. noncoding region (NCR) sequences were available, a retrospective study was carried out. Although the 5 NCR is widely used for GBVC/ HGV detection due to the high degree of sequence conservation among isolates (8), this fact clearly limits its potential use to trace chains of transmission, despite the presence of scattered subregions with higher heterogeneity. Nevertheless, since the 5 NCR has been reported to be unmodified after 8.4 years of evolution (5), a mother-to-infant chain was expected to show (almost) identical sequences unless specific 5 NCR variants were involved in selective transmission. Analyzed sequences were obtained from (i) a study group which encompassed plasma samples simultaneously obtained from 34 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected mothers (13 intravenous-drug users [IVDU] and 21 nonaddict women putatively infected by a heterosexual route [IHSR]) as well as from their respective infants (1 to 7 months old, without history of blood transfusion) born to either HIV-positive and GBVC/ HGV-infected mothers (n 8) or to HIV-positive but GBVC/ HGV nonviremic mothers (n 26) and (ii) a control group which comprised 31 5 NCR sequences derived from contemporary isolates circulating in the city of Buenos Aires and 6 others from the rest of the world. NCR is widely used for GBVC/ HGV detection due to the high degree of sequence conservation among isolates (8), this fact clearly limits its potential use to trace chains of transmission, despite the presence of scattered subregions with higher heterogeneity. Nevertheless, since the 5 NCR has been reported to be unmodified after 8.4 years of evolution (5), a mother-to-infant chain was expected to show (almost) identical sequences unless specific 5 NCR variants were involved in selective transmission. Analyzed sequences were obtained from (i) a study group which encompassed plasma samples simultaneously obtained from 34 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected mothers (13 intravenous-drug users [IVDU] and 21 nonaddict women putatively infected by a heterosexual route [IHSR]) as well as from their respective infants (1 to 7 months old, without history of blood transfusion) born to either HIV-positive and GBVC/ HGV-infected mothers (n 8) or to HIV-positive but GBVC/ HGV nonviremic mothers (n 26) and (ii) a control group which comprised 31 5 NCR sequences derived from contemporary isolates circulating in the city of Buenos Aires and 6 others from the rest of the world. NCR has been reported to be unmodified after 8.4 years of evolution (5), a mother-to-infant chain was expected to show (almost) identical sequences unless specific 5 NCR variants were involved in selective transmission. Analyzed sequences were obtained from (i) a study group which encompassed plasma samples simultaneously obtained from 34 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected mothers (13 intravenous-drug users [IVDU] and 21 nonaddict women putatively infected by a heterosexual route [IHSR]) as well as from their respective infants (1 to 7 months old, without history of blood transfusion) born to either HIV-positive and GBVC/ HGV-infected mothers (n 8) or to HIV-positive but GBVC/ HGV nonviremic mothers (n 26) and (ii) a control group which comprised 31 5 NCR sequences derived from contemporary isolates circulating in the city of Buenos Aires and 6 others from the rest of the world. NCR variants were involved in selective transmission. Analyzed sequences were obtained from (i) a study group which encompassed plasma samples simultaneously obtained from 34 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected mothers (13 intravenous-drug users [IVDU] and 21 nonaddict women putatively infected by a heterosexual route [IHSR]) as well as from their respective infants (1 to 7 months old, without history of blood transfusion) born to either HIV-positive and GBVC/ HGV-infected mothers (n 8) or to HIV-positive but GBVC/ HGV nonviremic mothers (n 26) and (ii) a control group which comprised 31 5 NCR sequences derived from contemporary isolates circulating in the city of Buenos Aires and 6 others from the rest of the world. n 8) or to HIV-positive but GBVC/ HGV nonviremic mothers (n 26) and (ii) a control group which comprised 31 5 NCR sequences derived from contemporary isolates circulating in the city of Buenos Aires and 6 others from the rest of the world. n 26) and (ii) a control group which comprised 31 5 NCR sequences derived from contemporary isolates circulating in the city of Buenos Aires and 6 others from the rest of the world. NCR sequences derived from contemporary isolates circulating in the city of Buenos Aires and 6 others from the rest of the world.