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Updated: Dec 22, 2025
An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings
Published on: March 30, 2014
HIV-1 Drug Resistance in ART-Naïve Individuals in Myanmar
Mei Ye1,2, Xin Chen1,3, Yu Wang4
1Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of the Chinese Academy of Sciences/Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Estimating the prevalence and characterizing the transmission of HIV-1 drug resistance in treatment-naïve individuals are very important in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. As one of the areas most affected by HIV/AIDS, few data are currently available for HIV-1 drug resistance in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naïve individuals in Myanmar, which borders Yunnan, China.
Methods:
HIV-1 pol sequences from ART-naïve HIV-1-infected individuals during 2008 and 2014 in Myanmar were retrieved from our previous studies. HIV-1 transmitted drug resistance (TDR) and susceptibility to antiretroviral drugs were predicted using the Stanford HIVdb program. HIV-1 transmission cluster (TC) was determined by Cluster Picker.
Results:
A total of 169 partial pol sequences from ART-naïve HIV-1 positive Burmese were analyzed. The prevalence of TDR was 20.1%. CRF01_AE and BC recombinants appeared to have a higher prevalence of TDR than other subtypes. The V179D/T was found to be very common in the China-Myanmar border region and was involved in half of the transmission clusters formed by HIV-1 drug-resistance strains in this region. Comparison showed that drug-resistance mutation profile in Myanmar was very similar to that in Dehong prefecture of Yunnan. By further phylogenetic analysis with all available sequences from the China-Myanmar border region, four HIV-1 drug-resistance-related TCs were identified. Three of them were formed by Burmese long-distance truck drivers and the Burmese staying in Yunnan, and another was formed by Burmese injection drug users staying in Myanmar and Yunnan. These results suggest a potential transmission link of HIV-1 drug resistance between Myanmar and Yunnan.
Conclusion:
Given the high prevalence of TDR in Myanmar, and the potential risk of cross-border transmission of HIV-1 drug-resistant strains between Myanmar and Yunnan, China, ongoing monitoring of HIV-1 drug resistance in ART-naïve individuals will provide a guideline for clinical antiretroviral treatment and benefit the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in this border region.
