High frequency of Lamivudine and Entecavir resistance mutations in
hepatitis B virus isolates from HIV co-infected patients on highly
active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Bucaramanga, Colombia: a
cross-sectional study.
Abstract
Drug-resistance mutations (DRM) of HBV in HIV coinfected patients
undergoing HAART are complex and incompletely understood. We aim to
determine the prevalence of HBV, HBV genotypes, and DRM in a cohort of
HIV-infected patients in the northeast region of Colombia. This was a
cross-sectional study in HIV patients between January 2010 and July
2011. Virological, immunological and HAART were collected from clinical
records. An in-house nested PCR of HBV pol gene was used to
identify coinfections, genotypes, DRM and HBV s antigen (HBsAg) escape
mutants. Out of 275 subjects, 11.6% were identified as HIV-HBV
coinfections from which 3.3% were HBsAg positive. All HBV sequences
(n=23) belonged to genotype F3. Among HIV/HBV coinfections, 71.9% had
CD4+ T cell counts above 200 cells/mm 3 and 37.5%
undetectable HIV viral loads. DRM rtL80I, rtL180M, and rtM204V, which
confer resistance to Lamivudine, were found in all HBV isolates. Also, a
rt236Y unknown mutation to Tenofovir was identified and HBsAg escape
mutations were not observed. Most patients received first-generation HBV
antiviral therapy with a low genetic barrier to resistance. In Summary,
these findings highlight the importance of molecular HBV screening and
new guidelines to overcome DRM and prevent HBV-related liver diseases.