Short Communication: Trends in Transmitted Drug Resistance in Treatment-Naive HIV Patients in Korea

Abstract

Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) in treatment-naive HIV patients can contribute to failure of initial antiretroviral therapy. In Korea, there has been a gradual increase in TDR, but the recent increase in the use of integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) could affect TDR trends and INSTI resistance mutations. We evaluated the patterns of TDR in newly diagnosed HIV patients over time from 2011 to 2019. We analyzed the genotypic resistance of strains in 336 patients and sequenced the integrase gene in 71 among 336 subjects. The overall prevalence of TDR was 5.9% (20 of 336 patients), and it showed a tendency to increase over time (5.1% in 2011-2013, 6.1% in 2014-2016, and 7.2% in 2017-2019; p = .3018). Furthermore, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance showed a marginally significant increase over time (1.45% in 2011-2013, 3.48% in 2014-2016, and 6.02% in 2017-2019; p = .0505). Regarding transmitted INSTI resistance mutation, there were no major INSTI resistance mutations but several accessory INSTI resistance mutations and predominant natural polymorphisms. This study shows several significant changes in TDR and suggests the importance of continuous surveillance of TDR and genetic variation in the integrase region.