Author(s)

Ben Ilunga Bulanda¹, Berry Ikolango Bongenya¹, Adawaye Chatte², Elvis Tshunza Kateba¹, Jean-Yves Debels Kabasele¹, Médard Okonda Omakoy¹, Divine Chuga¹, Christian Tshibumbu¹, Idriss Mwanaut¹, Erick Ntambwe Kamangu^1,3*

¹Research Group “Focus HIV/AIDS”, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
²University Institute of Sciences and Technologies of Abéché, Abéché, Chad.
³Service of Molecular Biochemistry, Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has a diversity that is equal to the complexity of its management. The group M (Major) is the dominant group in Sub-Saharan Africa and its distribution is very heterogeneous; the diversity of the virus is more heterogeneous in this region than elsewhere in the world which follows a complex and specific algorithm because of geographical positions and countries. This distribution is very dynamic, evolving and unpredictable. This review aimed to expose the specifics of the HIV Type 1 epidemic in Central Africa, in terms of the different molecular variants of HIV published for the region compared to the geographic location. Both Type 1 and Type 2 of HIV are prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa due to distinct geographical contexts. HIV-2 is mainly documented in West and Central Africa, particularly in Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Burkina-Faso however HIV-1 infection is widely distributed across the continent. The HIV-1 epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by the Group M. The different subtypes respect a certain geographical distribution across the continent. West Africa is dominated by subtype A, East and South Africa are dominated by subtype C, while Central Africa is dominated by strains A, C, D, F, H, J, CRF01-AE and CRF02-AG. This review is the first to present de molecular diversity of HIV-1 in metropolitan cities in all central African countries. The Circulating Recombinant Form (CRF02_AG) and subtypes A and G are present in all Central African countries and are also the most commonly encountered; followed by the subtypes D, F, G, C, B, J, K and several Circulating Recombinant Forms that are not represented in all Central African countries.

Molecular Diversity, HIV, Sub-Saharan Countries, Metropolitan Cities

Bulanda, B. , Bongenya, B. , Chatte, A. , Kateba, E. , Kabasele, J. , Omakoy, M. , Chuga, D. , Tshibumbu, C. , Mwanaut, I. and Kamangu, E. (2020) Molecular Diversity of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 in Metropolitan Cities in Central Africa: An Update of Data. World Journal of AIDS, 10, 80-93. doi: 10.4236/wja.2020.102007.