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Surveillance of HIV drug resistance transmission in Iran: experience gained from a pilot study

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Abstract

We performed a pilot surveillance study on transmitted HIV drug resistance (TDR) in Iran, with specimens collected and stored as dried blood spots (DBS). The protease region and relevant positions in the reverse transcriptase region of the pol gene were sequenced to detect mutations known to be associated with resistance to drugs in standard first-line regimens. Seventy-three specimens were collected, with 39 (53%) specimens yielding sequence from both protease and at least part of RT. Specimens were almost exclusively HIV-1 subtype CRF 35_A1D based on pol sequencing. Mutations were restricted to RT, with D67DG and V75AV each seen in a single specimen. An atypical protease inhibitor mutation, I47M, appeared at a resistance-associated position in protease from a single specimen. These preliminary data showed that the rate of transmitted drug resistance in Iran, within the areas sampled, was 5.1% (2/39). However, the small sample size makes this figure only an approximation. Due to the sampling strategy and resulting small sample size, we were unable to accurately calculate TDR rates for individual areas using the WHO HIV drug resistance threshold survey method. Increasing the sample size and improving the yield from DBS would improve the accuracy of drug resistance surveillance and facilitate wider application of this methodology in Iran.

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Acknowledgment

This investigation received technical and financial support from the joint WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) and WHO Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR): The EMRO/TDR Small Grants Scheme for Operational Research in Tropical and other Communicable Diseases. We wish to especially thank Dr. Amal Bassili, Focal Point EMRO/TDR for her support the project, Dr. Jean Carr, Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory, Division of Epidemiology and Prevention, School of Medicine, University of Maryland for her helpful comments and editorial suggestions, and Mrs. Eshraghi, staff of WHO office in Tehran, for her kind cooperation in shipping the specimens to Canada. The authors wish to thank Drs. Abbas Sedaghat, Narges Mohammad Rezaei and Kianoosh Kamali in the HIV/AIDS office of CDC, Parviz Afshar, General Director of Health and Treatment, Iran Prisons Organization, and Noosh Darou Co. for providing Whatman DBS filter paper. The authors also wish to thank the technicians who collected the specimens.

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The authors declare that they had no competing interests.

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Correspondence to Seyed Mohsen Mousavi.

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Mousavi, S.M., Hamkar, R., Gouya, M.M. et al. Surveillance of HIV drug resistance transmission in Iran: experience gained from a pilot study. Arch Virol 155, 329–334 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-009-0583-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00705-009-0583-6

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