Monitoring the Effect of HIV-1 Co-existence on the Molecular Evolution of HBV

CASSINO, L.; MBAYED, V.A.; TORRES, C.; CAMPOS, R.H.; LAUFER, N.; QUARLERI, J.

Conferencia; 18th Conference on Retroviruses and opportunistic Infections; 2011

Background: Both HIV-1 and hepatitis B virus (HBV) exhibit rapid evolutionary dynamics, typical of viruses dependent on reverse transcriptase?mediated replication. The former has a significant effect on the natural history of chronic HBV infection, but little is known on the reciprocal effect in the dynamics of molecular evolution. Our aim was to analyze the impact of HIV-1 on the evolutionary rate of HBV at inter- and intra-host levels in a prospective 3-year longitudinal study. Methods: Serum samples from 17 chronically infected HBV patients (9 HIV-1 co-infected) were collected at baseline and 36 months after. Patients? CD4 cell counts, HBV genotype, HIV-1 and HBV viral load, lamivudine therapy, its related mutations, and ARV regimen were documented. HBV DNA was amplified, from pre-C/C and S genomic regions, cloned, and sequenced with evaluation for positive or negative selection of T cell epitopes. Phylogenetic and evolutionary rates were estimated by ML and Bayesian method, respectively. The HBV quasi-species heterogeneity analysis involved its complexity and diversity. Statistical analysis was performed using Student?s t-test. Results: The CD4+ cell counts were higher in HBV mono-infected individuals than in those co-infected (952.1 vs 237.8, respectively; p