HIV-1 infection in South Kivu (Democratic Republic of Congo): high genotypic resistance to antiretrovirals.

Background: Panzi General Reference Hospital (HGR Panzi) in the Democratic Republic of Congo follows a large number of patients living with HIV-1 (PLWHIV). Although antiretrovirals (ARVs) are available, HIV-1 viral load (HIV-VL) measurement has only been implemented in the hospital since 2018. No data on ARV resistance levels and ARV dosage in plasma have yet been published for this region. We determined the prevalence of virological failure due to ARV resistance amongst patients and assessed the degree of genotypic resistance of the viral strains.

Methods: We performed an HIV-VL test and determined dosage of ARVs on samples collected from 205 PLWHIV at HGR Panzi between 2017 and 2018, including 13 ARV-naive patients. Genotypic resistance testing was performed on all samples with detectable HIV-VLs, and interpreted with the Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida (ANRS) 2018 algorithm.

Results: Baseline resistance to NNRTIs was found in 2 of the 13 treatment-naive individuals (15%). ARV dosage was non-optimal for 44/192 of treated patients (22.9%), with an HIV-VL ≥1000 IU/mL for 40/192 (20.8%) of them. In particular, treatment-experienced viruses presented resistance to at least one NRTI (52.5%), to at least one NNRTIs (70%) or to at least one PIs (15%). Finally, two samples contained viruses with resistance polymorphism in the integrase gene.

Conclusions: The high level of resistance to ARVs observed during this study, mainly due to treatment compliance default, fully justifies the implementation of means for closer patient monitoring. The provision of VL tests and therapeutic education management tools in a PLWHIV follow-up remains an absolute necessity to best adapt the current treatment lines in this region.