Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Transmission Clusters and Transmitted Drug-Resistant Mutations in Croatia from 2019 to 2022

Planinić, Ana; Begovac, Josip; Rokić, Filip; Šimičić, Petra; Oroz, Maja; Jakovac, Katja; Vugrek, Oliver; Zidovec-Lepej, Snjezana (2023) Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Transmission Clusters and Transmitted Drug-Resistant Mutations in Croatia from 2019 to 2022. Viruses, 15 (12). ISSN 1999-4915

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Abstract

Molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 infection is challenging due to the highly diverse HIV-genome. We investigated the genetic diversity and prevalence of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) followed by phylogenetic analysis in 270 HIV-1 infected, treatment-naïve individuals from Croatia in the period 2019–2022. The results of this research confirmed a high overall prevalence of TDR of 16.7%. Resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), non-nucleoside RTIs (NNRTIs), and protease inhibitors (PIs) was found in 9.6%, 7.4%, and 1.5% of persons, respectively. No resistance to integrase strand-transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) was found. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 173/229 sequences (75.5%) were part of transmission clusters, and the largest identified was T215S, consisting of 45 sequences. Forward transmission was confirmed in several clusters. We compared deep sequencing (DS) with Sanger sequencing (SS) on 60 randomly selected samples and identified additional surveillance drug resistance mutations (SDRMs) in 49 of them. Our data highlight the need for baseline resistance testing in treatment-naïve persons. Although no major INSTIs were found, monitoring of SDRMs to INSTIs should be continued due to the extensive use of first- and second-generation INSTIs.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	epidemiology; transmitted drug resistance; surveillance drug resistance mutations; phylogenetics
Subjects:	BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE > Clinical Medical Sciences > Infectology
Divisions:	Division of Molecular Medicine
Projects:	Project title Project leader Project code Project type Molekularna epidemiologija, kliničke osobitosti i skrb za osobe zaražene HIV-om u Hrvatskoj-MEKOSH/MECCHC Josip Begovac; Ivana Benković; Šime Zekan; Vanja Romih Pintar; Klaudija Višković; Maja Oroz; Snježana Židovec-Lepej; Lana Gorenec; Ivana Grgić; Oktavija Đaković Rode; Davorka Lukas; Ana Planinić IP-2019-04-9702 HRZZ
Depositing User:	Ivana Vuglec
Date Deposited:	31 Mar 2026 06:45
URI:	http://fulir.irb.hr/id/eprint/11547
DOI:	10.3390/v15122408

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