Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitor Resistance Mutations in Antiretroviral Therapy-Naive and Treatment-Experienced HIV Patients in South Korea

Abstract

Updated guidelines for the treatment ofantiretroviraltherapy (ART)-negativepatientswithHIVrecommendintegrasestrandtransferinhibitor(INSTI)-based regimens.HIVpatientsare tested forresistanceto antiretrovirals, and the reported prevalence of transmitted INSTIresistanceremains rare worldwide. However, no data related to INSTIresistancein KoreanHIVpatientshave been reported. We aimed to determine the prevalence of INSTIresistance-relatedmutationsinSouthKorea. We subjected both ART-naive (n = 58) and ART-experienced KoreanHIVpatients(n = 41) to genotypicresistanceanalysis and determined a prevalence of INSTI majorresistancemutationsof 3.4% (n = 2) among ART-naivepatientsand 22.0% (n = 9) among ART-experiencedpatients. In the former group, both major INSTIresistancecases involved the nonpolymorphic E92Q mutation in theintegrasestrand. Our findings suggest that INSTIresistancetesting should be included in the standardresistancescreening protocols for KoreanHIVpatients.