Diversity of HIV in Rural Burkina Faso

SUMMARY: : On introduction of a program for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Nouna, rural Burkina Faso, we determined HIV prevalence in this region to be 3.6%, which is significantly lower than the 7% reported for 2 major cities of Burkina Faso. Forty-three samples from drug-naive pregnant women and patients before introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) were genotypically characterized in gag, pol, and env regions. One individual each was infected with HIV-2 or dually infected with HIV-1 and HIV-2. The most dominant HIV-1 subtypes were CRF02_AG and CRF06_cpx, similar to what has been observed in other West African countries. A discordant genotype was observed in almost half of the analyzed samples, with most putative recombinants deriving from CRF02_AG and CRF06_cpx. Recently reported strains like the CRF09_cpx and the sub-subtype A3 as well as some unique recombinant forms of HIV like D/D/CRF02_AG and CRF02_AG/CRF02.AG/CRF_09cpx were also detected. Analysis of drug resistance-associated polymorphisms detected the nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) resistance mutations K103N/E and V118I in 1 individual each, suggesting transmission of drug-resistant viruses or prior use of antiretroviral drugs. Resistance-associated polymorphisms (K20I and M36I) were prevalent in the complete protease (PR) region, but no primary drug resistance mutations were detected. Analysis of the HR1 and HR2 regions of gp41, important for T-20 sensitivity, revealed no known resistance mutations but several polymorphisms of unknown importance. Monitoring for drug resistance mutations among naive subjects is important in this area on introduction of antiretroviral drugs.