Virological Profile of People Living with HIV after 12 Months of Treatment with Dolutegravir in Kinshasa

Abstract

Context: The evaluation of plasma Viral Load constitutes an indicator of the progression of the infection, the effectiveness and the tolerance of the treatment. Objective: The objective of this study is to present the virological profile of Patients Living with HIV (PLHIV) after 12 months of AntiRetro Viral Treatment (ART) based on Dolutegravir (DTG) in Kinshasa. Method: The present study is a cross-sectional view of the virological profile of the twelfth month of a prospective cohort of PLHIV at M12 of DTG-based ART in Kinshasa. During the M12 appointment, a blood sample was taken for Molecular Biology analyses from all PLHIV included. Result: During the M12 appointment, 28 patients were registered, including 16 (57.1%) women. Nine (9) patients (45.0%) had an undetectable Viral Load (VL). The median VL value was 3.18 log 10 RNA copies/mL (1530 RNA copies/mL). The mutations K65R, T69P/N, K70R and M184V have been listed as mutations conferring resistance to Nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors. No mutations associated with Dolutegravir were observed at M12. Conclusion: After 12 months of AntiRetroViral Treatment based on Dolutegravir, half of the Patients on first-line ART are in a state of virological failure.