Background: Viral genotype and intersubtype recombination may influence the rate and/or timing of mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission.
Methods: We determined the HIV-1 subtype of the C2-C5 env and 5'LTR regions from milk and blood samples of 61 Tanzanian mothers who transmitted the virus through breastfeeding and their HIV-1 positive non-transmitting controls. Cases and controls were matched on infant's age at sample collection. All mothers resided in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Results: Most infections among cases were due to recombinant viruses (41.0%), followed by HIV-1 subtype A (26.2%), subtype D (19.7%), and subtype C (13.1%). In multivariate analysis including maternal CD4+ cell counts, HIV disease stage, and proviral load in breast milk, the odds of breast milk transmission were 7.2 times higher if the mother carried an intersubtype recombinant genome in comparison to a subtype C virus (p=0.02). Viruses with recombinant LTRs were 4.9 times more likely to be transmitted through breastfeeding than viruses with non-recombinant LTRs of subtype A, C or D combined (p=0.01).
Conclusions: This suggested that intersubtype recombinant genomes, and especially recombination within the LTR, might render HIV-1 more fit for transmission via breast milk in comparison with non-recombinant subtypes A, C, and D.