醫學檢驗暨生物技術學系;內科部;內科CHANG, SUI-YUANSUI-YUANCHANGSHENG, WANG-HUEIWANG-HUEISHENGLEE, CHUN-NANCHUN-NANLEESUN, HSIN-YUNHSIN-YUNSUNKAO, CHUAN-LIANGCHUAN-LIANGKAOCHANG, SHU-FANGSHU-FANGCHANGLIU, WEN-CHUNWEN-CHUNLIUWONG, WING-WAIWING-WAIWONGHUNG, CHIEN-CHINGCHIEN-CHINGHUNGCHANG, SHAN-CHWENSHAN-CHWENCHANG2008-12-082018-07-062008-12-082018-07-062006http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw//handle/246246/89816In Taiwan, sexual transmission is responsible for most HIV- 1 infections with two dominant subtypes, subtype B and CRF01 _ AE, distributing among homosexual and heterosexual groups, respectively. Recently, intravenous drug use has become an emerging route of HIV-1 transmission and contributed to a significant increase of HIV-1 infection. To characterize the HIV isolates responsible for the outbreak among intravenous drug users (IDUs), phylogenetic analysis was performed to analyze the protease/RT sequences amplified from HIV-1- infected IDUs at National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei City STD Control Center. CRF07_BC, which is circulating in northern China, was demonstrated to account for the majority of HIV-1 infection in IDUs in the past 2 years. Although these Taiwanese CRF07_BC sequences shared the same breakpoint positions as those described in the CRF 07_BC reference sequences, they formed a unique cluster in the phylogenetic tree, suggesting they originated from a founder virus. This finding was further supported by the relative low genetic diversity and unique sequence features. Our results demonstrated the emergence of CRF07_BC and its association with the HIV-1 outbreak among IDUs between 2004 and 2005 in Taiwan. This finding not only helps us to have a better understanding of the HIV evolution in Asia, but also has important implications for vaccine design in the future .en-US[SDGs]SDG3