A cross-sectional study was undertaken to examine the prevalence and pattern of HIV drug resistance mutations (DRMs) among recently HIV-1-infected and antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive individuals from Chennai, South India. The HIV-1 pol gene encompassing the protease and reverse transcriptase (RT) regions were analyzed from 53 ART-naive HIV-1-infected individuals using an in-house method for identifying DRMs by genotyping. The overall prevalence of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) was found to be 11.3% (6/53), which is categorized as moderate level (5.0%-15.0%) of TDR according to the World Health Organization (WHO) survey guidelines. Surveillance drug resistance mutations to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) were observed in 8.3% (n = 4) of the 48 RT sequences analyzed. No major DRMs related to the protease and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTIs) class of drugs were identified.
Keywords: ART-naive; HIV drug resistance; antiretroviral resistance; human immunodeficiency virus type-1; transmitted drug resistance.