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. 2023 Jun 28;20(1):41.
doi: 10.1186/s12981-023-00540-0.

Genetic characterization of HIV-1 viruses among cases with antiretroviral therapy failure in Suzhou City, China

Zefeng Dong #  1 , Zhihui Xu #  1 , Ying Zhou  2 , Runfang Tian  1 , Kai Zhou  1 , Di Wang  1 , Xuerong Ya  3 , Qiang Shen  4
Affiliations

Genetic characterization of HIV-1 viruses among cases with antiretroviral therapy failure in Suzhou City, China

Zefeng Dong et al. AIDS Res Ther. .

Abstract

Background: This retrospective study aimed to characterize the distribution of HIV-1 genotypes and the prevalence of drug resistance mutations in people with antiretroviral treatment (ART) failure in Suzhou City, China.

Methods: Pol gene of HIV-1 viruses in blood samples of EDTA anticoagulants from 398 patients with failed antiviral treatment was successfully amplified by using an in-house assay. Drug resistance mutations were analyzed by using the Stanford HIV Drug Resistance Database system ( https://hivdb.stanford.edu/hivdb/by-mutations/ ). HIV-1 genotypes were determined by the REGA HIV subtyping tool (version 3.46, https://www.genomedetective.com/app/typingtool/hiv ). Near full-length genomes (NFLG) of HIV-1 viruses were obtained by next generation sequencing method.

Results: Sequences analysis of the pol gene revealed that CRF 01_AE (57.29%, 228/398) was the dominant subtype circulating in Suzhou City, followed by CRF 07_BC (17.34%, 69/398), subtype B (7.54%, 30/398), CRF 08_BC (6.53%, 26/398), CRF 67_01B (3.02%, 12/398) and CRF55_01B (2.51%, 10/398). The overall prevalence of drug-resistant mutations in cases with ART failure was 64.57% (257/398), including 45.48% (181/398) for nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) mutations, 63.32% (252/398) for non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) mutations, and 3.02% (12/398) for protease inhibitors (PIs) mutations. Ten near full-length genomes (NFLG) of HIV-1 viruses were identified, including six recombinants of CRF 01_AE and subtype B, two recombinants of CRF 01_AE, subtype B and subtype C sequences, one recombinant of CRF 01_AE and subtype C and one recombinant of CRF 01_AE, subtype A1 and subtype C.

Conclusions: The high prevalence of drug-resistant HIV-1 viruses was a serious challenge for HIV prevention and treatment of people with HIV infection. Treatment regimens for ART failure patients should be adjusted over time based on the outcome of drug resistance tests. NFLG sequencing facilitates the identification of new recombinants of HIV-1.

Keywords: ART; Drug resistance; HIV; Pol gene; Recombinant.

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Conflict of interest statement

There were no competing interests of this manuscript.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Frequency of drug-resistance mutations among cases with ART failure
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Resistance level of different drugs among cases with ART failure
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree of 10 near full-length genomes of Suzhou HIV-1 recombinant viruses. Uncolored labels represent Suzhou HIV-1 viruses
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Recombinant analysis of 10 near full-length genomes of HIV-1 viruses in Suzhou City, China
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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