Circulation of HIV-1 CRF02_AG among MSM population in central Italy: a molecular epidemiology-based study

The evolutionary and demographic history of the circular recombinant form CRF02_AG in a selected retrospective group of HIV-1 infected men who have sex with men (MSM) resident in Central Italy was investigated.

A total of 55 HIV-1 subtype CRF02_AG pol sequences were analyzed using Bayesian methods and a relaxed molecular clock to reconstruct their dated phylogeny and estimate population dynamics.

Dated phylogeny indicated that the HIV-1 CRF02_AG strains currently circulating in Central Italy originated in the early 90's. Bayesian phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of a main HIV-1 CRF02_AG clade, introduced in the area of Rome before 2000 and subsequently differentiated in two different subclades with a different date of introduction (2000 versus 2005). All the sequences within clusters were interspersed, indicating that the MSM analyzed form a close and restricted network where the individuals, also moving within different clinical centers, attend the same places to meet and exchange sex.

It was suggested that the HIV-1 CRF02_AG epidemic entered central Italy in the early 1990s, with a similar trend observed in western Europe.