Serotype analysis of Indian patients with HIV infection

HIV infection has established itself in India. Besides Bombay, Madras and Manipur it has assumed epidemic proportions in Punjab, where 24% of seropositives acquired infection through blood products. Preliminary observations on genetic analysis in 13 isolates revealed that the principal neutralizing determinant (PND) of the V3 loop was closely related to the South African isolate. Since serotyping can give reliable information about genotypic prevalence in the population, serotyping in the present study used 5 synthetic peptides (NOF, EL1, MN, IIIB, IND) of African, North American, European and Indian origin. The Indian consensus was derived from genotype analysis of 13 cases. Results of serotype analysis indicated that 82% of patients harboured a strain related to the South African type of HIV-1. These observations have a sinister significance for designing vaccine strategies for this region.