ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Virology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1617795
HIV drug resistance and its associated factors among patients during interruption of antiretroviral therapy in China
Provisionally accepted
Zhongbao Zuo1
Wei Huang2
Lei Liu3Miaomiao Li3
Hongli Chen3
Yi Feng3Lingjie Liao3
Yiming Shao3
Yuhua Ruan3Jing Wu1*
Hui Xing3*- 1Department of Clinical Laboratory, Hangzhou Xixi hospital, Hangzhou, China
- 2Department of Orthopedics, Hangzhou Xixi Hospital,, Hangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 3Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
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The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug resistance among people living with HIV (PLWH) who experience treatment interruptions is a significant concern. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of HIV drug resistance for PLWH who experienced treatment interruptions in China.Methods: This study included 595 PLWH from four studies conducted in China between 2003 and 2021. Data were collected through face-to-face questionnaires, and HIV drug resistance was genotyped using an in-house assay. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with drug resistance.The prevalence of drug resistance was 19.6% (83/424). The most frequent drug resistance mutation was K103N (12.9%). The HIV drug resistance rate and the frequency of patients harboring ≥2 drug resistance mutations decreased significantly in the longer interruption time group. Chi-square trend tests showed that HIV drug resistance, NNRTI drug resistance, K1O3N mutation, and viral load significantly decreased in the longer interruption time group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that viral load ≥15,000 copies/mL (AOR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.34-0.98, P=0.04), interruption time ≥24 months (AOR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.13-0.63, P=0.002), and ART duration of 12-24 months before interruption (AOR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.17-0.76, P=0.01) were significantly associated with HIV drug resistance.The study found that the prevalence of HIV drug resistance among PLWH who experienced treatment interruptions in China was 19.6%. These findings highlight the importance of conducting drug resistance tests for patients with interruptions before reinitiating ART, especially when the viral load is> 1000 copies/mL.
Keywords: HIV, Drug Resistance, interruption of antiretroviral therapy, Mutation, Viral Load
Received: 28 Apr 2025; Accepted: 27 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zuo, Huang, Liu, Li, Chen, Feng, Liao, Shao, Ruan, Wu and Xing. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jing Wu, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Hangzhou Xixi hospital, Hangzhou, China
Hui Xing, Chinese Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.