Abstract

Background: There are few large studies of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) prevalence and the drug resistance mutations (DRMs) responsible for TDR in the U.S.Methods: HIV-1 RT and protease sequences were obtained from 4,253 antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive individuals in a California clinic population from 2003-2016. Phylogenetic analyses were performed to study linkages between TDR strains and selection pressure on TDR-associated DRMs.Results: From 2003-2016, there was a significant increase in overall (odds ratio [OR]=1.05 per year; 95% CI: 1.03 - 1.08; p<0.001) and nonnucleoside RT inhibitor (NNRTI)-associated TDR (OR=1.11 per year; 95% CI: 1.08 - 1.15; p<0.001). Between 2012 and 2016, TDR rates to any drug class ranged from 15.7%-19.2%, and class-specific rates ranged from 10.0%-12.8% for NNRTIs, 4.1%-8.1% for nucleoside RT inhibitors (NRTIs), and 3.6%-5.2% for protease inhibitors. K103N/S, Y181C, Y188L, and G190A mutations accounted for 88.5% of NNRTI-associated TDR. The thymidine analog mutations, M184V/I, and the tenofovir-associated DRMs K65R and K70E/Q/G/N/T accounted for 82.9%, 7.3%, and 1.4% of NRTI-associated TDR, respectively. The proportions of individuals with low-level resistance or higher to boosted atazanavir and darunavir were 2.2% and 0.3%, respectively. 37% of TDR strains clustered with other TDR strains sharing the same DRMs.Conclusions: Although TDR has increased significantly in this large cohort, many TDR strains are unlikely to influence the activity of currently preferred first-line ART regimens. The high proportion of DRMs associated with infrequently used regimens combined with the clustering of TDR strains suggest that some TDR strains are being transmitted between ART-naive individuals.

View details for PubMedID 29846534