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Expanding access to effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a major tool for management of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. However, rising levels of HIV drug-resistance have significantly hampered the anticipated success of ART in persons living with HIV (PLWH), particularly those from Africa. Though great strides have been made in Ghana toward achieving the UNAIDS "95-95-95" target, a substantial number of PLWH receiving ART have not attained viral suppression. This study investigated patterns of drug resistance mutations in ART naïve as well as ART-experienced PLWH receiving first-line regimen drugs from Ghana. In a cross-sectional study, blood samples were collected from HIV-1 infected adults (=18 years) attending HIV/AIDS clinic at the Eastern Regional Hospital, Koforidua, Ghana from September to October 2017. Viral RNA isolated from plasma were subjected to genotypic drug resistance testing for Protease Inhibitors (PI), Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (RTI), and Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors (INSTI). A total of 95 (84 ART experienced, 11 ART naïve) HIV-1 infected participants were sampled in this study. Sixty percent (50/84) of the ART-experienced participants were controlling viremia (viral load < 1,000 copies/ml). Of the 95 patient samples, 32, 34, and 33 were successfully sequenced for protease, reverse-transcriptase, and integrase regions, respectively. The dominant HIV-1 subtypes detected were CRF02_AG (70%), and A3 (10%). Major drug resistance associated mutations were only detected for reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The predominant drug resistance mutations were against nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI)--M184V/I and non-nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI)--K103N. In the ART-experienced group, M184V/I and K103N were detected in 54% (15/28) and 46% (13/28) of individuals, respectively. Both mutations were each detected in 33% (2/6) of ART naïve individuals. Multiclass resistance to NRTI and NNRTI was detected in 57% of ART-experienced individuals and two ART naïve individuals. This study reports high-level resistance to NNRTIbased antiretroviral therapy in PLWH in Ghana. However, the absence of major PI and INSTI associated-mutations is a good signal that the current WHO recommendation of Dolutegravir in combination with an NRTI backbone will yield maximum benefits as first-line regimen for PLWH in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Detection of HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance (TDR) and subtype diversity (SD) are public health strategies to assess current HIV-1 regimen and ensure effective therapeutic outcomes of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among HIV-1 patients. Globally, limited data exist on TDR and SD among blood donors. In this study, drug resistance mutations (DRMs) and SD amongst HIV-1 sero-positive blood donors in Accra, Ghana were characterized. Methods: Purposive sampling method was used to collect 81 HIV sero-positive blood samples from the Southern Area Blood Center and confirmed by INNO-LIA as HIV-1 and/or HIV-2. Viral RNA was only extracted from plasma samples confirmed as HIV-1 positive. Complementary DNA (cDNA) was synthesized using the RNA as a template and subsequently amplified by nested PCR with specific primers. The expected products were verified, purified and sequenced. Neighbour-joining tree with the Kimura's 2-parameter distances was generated with the RT sequences using Molecular Evolutionary Genetic Analysis version 6.0 (MEGA 6.0). Results: Out of the 81 plasma samples, 60 (74%) were confirmed as HIV-1 sero-positive by INNO-LIA HIVI/II Score kit with no HIV-2 and dual HIV-1/2 infections. The remaining samples, 21 (26%) were confirmed as HIV sero-negative. Of the 60 confirmed positive samples, (32) 53% and (28) 47% were successfully amplified in the RT and PR genes respectively. Nucleotide sequencing of amplified samples revealed the presence of major drug resistance mutations in two (2) samples; E138A in one sample and another with K65R. HIV-1 Subtypes including subtypes A, B, CRF02_AG and CRF09_cpx were found. Conclusion: This study found major drug resistance mutations, E138A and K65R in the RT gene that confer high level resistance to most NNRTIs and NRTI respectively. CRF02_AG was most predominant, the recorded percentage of subtype B and the evolutionary relationship inferred by phylogenetic analysis may suggest possible subtype importation. However, a more prospective and detailed analysis is needed to establish this phenomenon. The data obtained would inform the selection of drugs for ART initiation to maximize therapeutic options in drug-naïve HIV-1 patients in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]