African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (16), pp. 1892-1897, 20 August 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

HIV subtype and drug resistance patterns among drug naïve persons in Jos, Nigeria

P. Lar^1,5*, N. Lar², K. Bemis¹, J. Jelpe², L. Enzyguirre¹, L. Ayuba², D. Zella¹, P. Kanki³, J. K. Carr ^1,4, W. Blattner¹ and A. G. Abimiku¹

¹Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA.

²PSSH, Jos Plateau state, Nigeria,

³Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, England.

⁴Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Rockville, MD, USA.

⁵University of Jos, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: larp1000ng@yahoo.com.

Accepted 25 June, 2007

To determine HIV-1 subtypes and antiretroviral drug resistance mutations for 16 infected, pregnant women in Jos, Nigeria, part of pol (1040 bp) was amplified from patient PBMC DNA, sequenced and analyzed.  Eight of the samples were subtype G, three were CRF02_AG and 2 were unique recombinant forms (URF) between G and CRF02_AG. The remaining consisted of 3 different strains: one was subtype C, and the other 2 were unrelated URF.  Nearly full-length genome sequences were completed for 6 of the strains:  4 subtype G and 2 CRF02_AG.  In the 14 drug-naïve subjects, no primary resistance-asso-ciated mutations were found, but secondary mutations were identified in 7 different codons of the gene coding for protease: PR K20I, M36I, L63A/P/V, V82I, L10M/I and I93L.  In addition, the K238R mutation was identified in the reverse transcriptase gene of 3 viruses. The PR K20I and M36I mutations occurred in all of the strains, and the L10M and V82I mutations occurred only in subtype G.  The mutation, I93L, was carried by subtype C viruses. Two of the women that had prior niverapine treatment, had primary resistance-associated mutations, RT M184V and K103N, archived in their proviral DNA several months after treatment cessation. The study reports a predominance of clade G and CRF02_AG, and provides many more examples of nearly full-length genome sequences for subtype G viruses from Nigeria. The ubiquitous presence of PI secondary resistance-associated mutations, as well as primary resistance-associated mutations in 2 previously treated women, underscores the need to ensure adherence compliance to treatment. 

Key words: Characterization, CRF02_AG, baseline, niverapine, Unique Recombinant Forms, West Africa.