Short communication: analysis of the integrase gene from HIV type 1-positive patients living in a rural area of West Cameroon.

Major mutations associated with HIV-I integrase inhibitors (INI) resistance are rare in INI-naive patients.However, polymorphisms at positions that may influence the genetic barrier and/or drive the selection ofspecific INI resistance pathways are common in HIV non-B subtypes. The aim was to evaluate the presence ofnatural polymorphisms and/or INI resistance mutations in HIV-1 non-B subtype samples obtained from INInaivepatients living in rural west Cameroon. Thirty-three HIV-1 non-B samples were obtained from INI-naiveAfrican women and, as controls, 15 samples of HIV-1 subtype B were obtained from antiretroviral-naive Italianpatients. The integrase gene was amplified and sequenced using Trugene Core Reagents. Several amino acidpositions in B and non-B subtypes were found to be polymorphic. Interestingly, two patients infected with theCRF02_AG subtype had the resistance mutations N155H and E157Q/E and 12% of African samples had anamino acid substitution at position 143. Silent mutations leading to a higher increment of genetic barriers weredetected at 140 and 151 positions in non B-subtypes. Although most polymorphisms may have little effect on INIsusceptibility, the IN gene variations found in the present study should be taken into consideration as they mayfacilitate or delay the emergence of variants fully resistant to INIs.