Short communication: molecular epidemiology of HIV type 1 infection in Kazakhstan: CRF02_AG prevalence is increasing in the southeastern provinces.

To analyze HIV-1 genetic variants in Kazakhstan, HIV-1 sequences were obtained from 205 antiretroviral-treated (ART) and naive patients in 2009-2013. Samples were collected in the most populous cities and provinces of Kazakhstan. On the basis of phylogenetic analyses of partial pol sequences, subtype A variant intravenous drug user (IDU)-A (which is dominant in the former Soviet Union) was found in 60.0% of the individuals, followed by CRF02_AG (34.6%); the rest of the samples were subtype B, CRF03_AB, CRF63_02A1, and CRF07_BC. The proportion of CRF02_AG has increased significantly since 2001-2003, when it was less than 5%. The majority of the CRF02_AG cases were found in Almaty, the former capital and the most populous city in Kazakhstan. The IDU-A variant dominated in the industrial regions of northern and central Kazakhstan and some other regions. Both dominant HIV-1 genetic variants were almost equally represented in the two main transmission groups: IDUs and heterosexuals. The analysis of drug-resistant mutations found a low prevalence of drug resistance in 165 therapy-naive individuals (3.0%). Thus, in the beginning of the second decade of the 2000s, the HIV epidemic in Kazakhstan is driven by two main genetic variants: IDU-A and CRF02_AG.