Prevalence of Primary Drug Resistance Among Newly Diagnosed HIV-1-Infected Individuals in Hunan Province, China

At present, research on the prevalence of primary drug resistance (PDR) in Hunan Province is limited. Therefore, we explored the current status of HIV-1 PDR in Hunan to provide a basis for antiretroviral therapy (ART) and a theoretical foundation for prevention and control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Three hundred seventy newly diagnosed HIV-1-infected individuals who had not received ART in Hunan province, China, were enrolled in the study. Plasma samples were collected, RNA was extracted, two rounds of gene amplification were carried out with the in-house method, and subtype analysis and drug resistance analysis were carried out with relevant software. We found that the most prevalent subtypes of HIV-1 in Hunan Province are CRF_01AE (126/359, 35.1%) and CRF07_BC (85/359, 23.7%). The PDR rate among newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS patients was 10.0% (36/359). Among them, the drug resistance rates of protease inhibitors, nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, non-nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors, and integrase inhibitors were 0.3% (1/359), 3.3% (12/359), 8.36% (30/359), and 0.6% (2/359), respectively. The distribution of HIV-1 subtypes in Hunan Province is diverse and complex, and the PDR rate has exceeded the low-level warning line set by the World Health Organization (<5%). Therefore, we should conduct pretreatment drug resistance assays to determine the optimal primary ART so that patients can obtain better antiretroviral treatment outcomes and transmission of drug-resistant strains in the population can be blocked.