Objective: To examine the prevalence of drug resistance mutations among the treatment-naive HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) infectors living in Beijing so as to provide the basal information for clinical antiviral treatment.
Methods: HIV pol genes from plasma samples of 150 treatment-naive HIV-infected patients were amplified, sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. And the drug-resistance associated mutations in protease and reverse transcriptase regions were analyzed with Stanford University HIV Drug Resistance Database.
Results: A total of 111 pol gene sequences were obtained. The overall prevalence of drug resistance was 8.1% (9/111), corresponding to 3.6% (4/111) for protease inhibitors, 1.8% (2/111) for nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and 3.6% (4/111) for non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. No drug resistance mutation was identified in 17 intravenous drug users.
Conclusion: The prevalence of drug resistance is relatively high in the newly confirmed HIV infectors in Beijing. Regular surveillance and monitoring of drug-resistant HIV should be implemented.