title: HIV-1 genetic diversity and antiretroviral drug resistance among individuals from Roraima state, northern Brazil.
abstract: The HIV-1 epidemic in Brazil has spread towards the Northern country region, but little is known about HIV-1 subtypes and prevalence of HIV strains with resistance mutations to antiretrovirals in some of the Northern states. HIV-1 protease (PR) and reverse transcriptase (RT) sequences were obtained from 73 treatment-naive and -experienced subjects followed between 2013 and 2014 at a public health reference unit from Roraima, the northernmost Brazilian state. The most prevalent HIV-1 clade observed in the study population was the subtype B (91%), followed by subtype C (9%). Among 12 HIV-1 strains from treatment-naïve patients, only one had a transmitted drug resistance mutation for NNRTI. Among 59 treatment-experienced patients, 12 (20%) harbored HIV-1 strains with acquired drug resistance mutations (ADRM) that reduce the susceptibility to two classes of antiretroviral drugs (NRTI and NNRTI or NRTI and PI), and five (8%) harbored HIV-1 strains with ADRM that reduced susceptibility to only one class of antiretroviral drugs (NNRTI or PI). No patients harboring HIV strains with reduced susceptibility to all three classes of antiretroviral drugs were detected. A substantial fraction of treatment-experienced patients with (63%) and without (70%) ADRM had undetectable plasma viral loads (<40 copies/ml) at the time of sampling. Among treatment-experienced with plasma viral loads above 2,000 copies/ml, 44% displayed no ADRM. This data showed that the HIV-1 epidemic in Roraima displayed a much lower level of genetic diversity and a lower prevalence of ADRM than that described in other Brazilian states.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Leônidas e Maria Deane, FIOCRUZ, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
authors.forename: André de Lima Guerra
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Corado
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de AIDS e Imunologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bello
authors.affiliation: Laboratório Central de Saúde Pública de Roraima (LACEN/RR), Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato Augusto Carvalho
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Leão
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal de Roraima (UFRR), Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Granja
authors.affiliation: Instituto Leônidas e Maria Deane, FIOCRUZ, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe Gomes
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Naveca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001938:Brazil; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents