Drug Resistance Pattern of HIV Type 1 Isolates Sampled in 2007 from Therapy-Naive Pregnant Women in North-Central Nigeria

In Nigeria, the country with the second largest number of HIV-1-infected people globally, antiretroviral therapy rollout is now widespread with an increasing number of individuals and communities benefitting. However, the drug resistance profile of patients initiating or failing on antiretroviral therapy is not well characterized. Here we studied the molecular variability of the protease and reverse transcriptase region of isolates from therapy-naive pregnant women in North-Central Nigeria (one of the geopolitical zones with the highest prevalence of HIV in Nigeria) to identify baseline mutations with potential drug resistance implications. We observed the predominance of CRF02_AG and subtype G in the North-Central Nigerian epidemic and the presence of both primary and secondary drug resistance mutations. Contrary to observation from other geopolitical zones, a decreased frequency of reverse transcriptase mutations/polymorphisms was observed, thus suggesting regional differences in level of transmitted drug resistance that require more study.