Drug resistance mutations and viral load in human immunodeficiency virus type 2 and dual HIV-1/HIV-2 infected patients in Ghana

Christopher Z. Abana, Kwamena W.C. Sagoe, Evelyn Y. Bonney, Edward K. Maina, Ishmael D. Aziati, Esinam Agbosu, Gifty Mawuli, Linda M. Styer, Koichi Ishikawa, James A.M. Brandful, William K. Ampofo, Eduard Karamov

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5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) and drug resistance studies worldwide have focused almost exclusively on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). As a result, there is limited information on ART and drug resistance in HIV-2 patients. In Ghana, the HIV epidemic is characterized by the domination of HIV-1, with cocirculating HIV-2. We, therefore, sought to determine viral load and drug resistance mutations in HIV-2 patients to inform the clinical management of such individuals in Ghana.We used purposive sampling to collect blood from 16 consented patients, confirmed as HIV-2 or HIV-1/2 dual infections by serology. A 2-step real-time RT-PCR assay was used to determine plasma HIV-2 RNA viral loads. For drug resistance testing, nucleic acids were extracted from plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The reverse transcriptase and protease genes of HIV-2 were amplified, sequenced and analyzed for drug resistance mutations and HIV-2 group.HIV-2 viral load was detected in 9 of 16 patients. Six of these had quantifiable viral loads (range: 2.62-5.45 log IU/mL) while 3 had viral loads below the limit of quantification. Sequences were generated from 7 out of 16 samples. Five of these were classified as HIV-2 group B and 2 as HIV-2 group A. HIV-2 drug resistance mutations (M184V, K65R, Y115F) were identified in 1 patient.This study is the first to report HIV-2 viral load and drug resistance mutations in HIV-2 strains from Ghana. The results indicate the need for continuous monitoring of drug resistance among HIV-2- infected patients to improve their clinical management.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere14313
JournalMedicine (United States)
Volume98
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2019

Keywords

  • HIV-2
  • antiretroviral therapy
  • drug resistance
  • mutation
  • viral load

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