Drug resistance mutations in human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) strains from patients in Ghana

5^th International Conference on HIV/AIDS, STDs and STIs

November 13-14, 2017 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Christopher Z Abana, Kwamena W C Sagoe, Evelyn Y Bonney, Edward K Maina, Ishmael D Aziati, Esinam Agbosu, Gifty Mawuli, Linda M Styer, James A M Brandful and William K Ampofo

University of Ghana, Ghana
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kenya
Bloodborne Viruses Laboratory, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J AIDS Clin Res

Abstract :

Statement of the Problem: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) and drug resistance studies worldwide have focused almost exclusively on HIV-1. In Ghana, the HIV epidemic is characterized by the domination of HIV-1 with few HIV-2 co-circulating. As a result, there is limited information on ART and drug resistance in HIV-2 patients. We therefore sought to determine viral load and drug resistance mutations in HIV-2 patients in Ghana to inform the clinical management of such individuals. Methods: We used purposive sampling to collect blood from 16 consented patients confirmed as HIV-2 and HIV-1/2 dual infections by serology. A real-time RT-PCR assay was used to determine the viral load of patients by using an HIV-2 RNA standard as a reference. Nucleic acid (RNA and DNA) were extracted from plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) respectively. The reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease (PR) genes of HIV-2 were amplified, sequenced and then analyzed for drug resistance mutations and HIV-2 group. Findings: Nine patients comprising 7 ART-na�¯ve and 2 ART-experienced had detectable HIV-2 viral loads (range: 2.35â��5.45 logIU/ mL). Five of the patients were identified as HIV-2 group B and two as HIV-2 group A. HIV-2 drug resistance mutations (M184V, K65R, Y115F) were identified in one ART-experienced patient. Conclusion & Significance: This is the first report of HIV-2 viral load determination and drug resistance mutations in HIV-2 strains in patients in Ghana. The results indicate the need for continuous monitoring of HIV-2 drug resistance to improve clinical management of HIV-2 infected patients in a setting focused on HIV-1 patients.