Understanding drug resistance patterns across different classes of antiretrovirals used in HIV-1-infected treatment-Naïve and experienced patients in Mumbai, India.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study is to find out the proportion of treatment-naïve (Tn) and treatment-experienced (Te) patients experiencing HIV drug resistance (DR) to different classes of antiretrovirals (ARVs) being used for HIV treatment and their in class DR correlation.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was done on 109 HIV patients enrolled at a private hospital in Thane, India, from 2014 to 2019. All patients were tested for CD4 count, viral load, and resistance to ARVs.

RESULTS

Sixty-six patients were Tn and 43 patients were Te. Among Tn and Te patients, the percentage of high-level resistance (HLR) for nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) was 4.55% and 37.8%, respectively, for nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) was 0.43% and 36.4%, respectively. No HLR was observed for protease inhibitors (PIs) among Tn patients, while Te patients showed 2.62% HLR. Tn and Te patients showed high susceptibility for Darunavir (98.48% and 95.34%, respectively) followed by Atazanavir and Lopinavir (96.96%, each and 90.69%, each). Tn patients showed HLR for Lamivudine and Emtricitabine (1.52%, each). Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors were susceptible (100%) in both Tn and Te patients. A positive correlation was observed for within class across ARVs.

CONCLUSION

An increased incidence of HLR was observed for NNRTI as compared to NRTI while PIs and integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) demonstrated no HLR in either group of patients. When selecting a regimen for Tn patients consisting of NRTIs + NNRTIs genotypic DR test is essential. While with PIs or INSTIs its optional. Among Te patients, DR testing is recommended for all classes of drugs.