Protease Inhibitor Resistance Is Uncommon in HIV-1 Subtype C Infected Patients on Failing Second-Line Lopinavir/r-Containing Antiretroviral Therapy in South Africa

Limited data exist on HIV-1 drug resistance patterns in South Africa following second-line protease-inhibitor containing regimen failure. This study examined drug resistance patterns emerging in 75 HIV-1 infected adults experiencing virologic failure on a second-line regimen containing 2 NRTI and lopinavir/ritonavir. Ninety six percent of patients (n = 72) were infected with HIV-1 subtype C, two patients were infected with HIV-1 subtype D and one with HIV-1 subtype A1. Thirty nine percent (n = 29) of patients had no resistance mutations in protease or reverse transcriptase suggesting that medication non-adherence was a major factor contributing to failure. Major lopinavir resistance mutations were infrequent (5 of 75; 7%), indicating that drug resistance is not the main barrier to future viral suppression.