HIV-1 resistance profile in plasma and peripheral blood lymphocytes in a group of naive patients

Abstract

Transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance (TDR) is a persisting problem, even though the prevalence of primary resistance may remain stable or start to decline. Proviral DNA detectable in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) is a reservoir of drug resistant viral variants and could be an alternative marker to viral RNA for the detection of drug resistance mutations. The aim of this study was to compare the HIV-1 resistance profile between plasma viral RNA and proviral DNA in a group of untreated patients. Thirty-one HIV-1 seropositive patients without prior ARV treatment were included in the study. The presence of non-polymorphic drug resistance mutations was identified in 10 cases in proviral DNA and in 11 cases in plasma according to different scoring systems. Our results show a similar resistance profile between plasma RNA and proviral DNA, but with some discordances present. The sequencing of proviral DNA could provide useful additional information with regard to primary resistance.