Surveillance of Pretreatment Drug Resistance Among HIV-Infected Children in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

There are about 2.1 million children infected with HIV globally and about 120,000 deaths annually. Nigeria has one of the highest rates of pediatric HIV infection globally. Pretreatment HIV drug resistance data inform the choice of first- and second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens. This study investigated the prevalence of HIV drug-resistant strains among ART-naive children in Ibadan, Nigeria. A total of 20 children aged <15 years were enrolled. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were documented. Total nucleic acid was extracted from blood samples after which amplification of HIV-1 pol gene was done using polymerase chain reaction. Amplified gene was sequenced using big dye sequencing method. The sequenced HIV-1 pol gene was typed and analyzed for identification of mutations indicative of drug resistance across the different classes of ART. HIV-1 RNA pol gene was successfully amplified in 12/20 (60%) children. All were identified as HIV-1 and the subtypes were G and CRF 02AG, recombinant of 02_AG/G and recombinant of 02_AG/A1. Drug-resistant mutations (DRMs) were identified in 4/12 (33%). Three out of the four mutations were identified as non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors DRM (K103N), whereas the fourth had nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors DRM (M184V). Results from this preliminary study show that drug resistance among ART-naive children is a problem in Ibadan. Pretreatment drug resistance testing is desirable in children before initiation of ART to guide effective treatment.

Keywords: HIV-infected children; NNRTI; NRTI; drug resistance.