Prevalence of acquired and transmitted HIV drug resistance in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis

There is no systematic review on the prevalence of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) in Iran. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of HIVDR among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Iran. We assessed HIVDR prevalence in antiretroviral therapy (ART) naïve PLHIV (i.e., those without a history of ART) and PLHIV receiving ART.

We systematically searched Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Iranian databases (Iranian Medical Research Information System, Magiran, and Scientific Information Database), the references of studies, and Google Scholar until March 2023. A random-effects model was used to calculate a point estimate and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for the prevalence of HIVDR in PLHIV.

Among 461 potential publications, 22 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of acquired HIVDR in PLHIV receiving ART was 34% (95% CI: 19, 50) for nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), 27% (95% CI: 15, 41) for non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), and 9% (95% CI: 3, 18) for protease inhibitors (PIs). The pooled prevalence of acquired HIVDR in treatment failure PLHIV was 50% (95% CI: 31, 69) for NRTIs, 49% (95% CI: 29, 69) for NNRTIs, 11% (95% CI: 2, 24) for PIs, and 1% (95% CI: 0, 4) for integrase inhibitors (INIs). The pooled prevalence of transmitted HIVDR in ART-naïve people was 3% (95% CI; 1, 6) for NRTIs, 5% (95% CI: 2, 9) for NNRTIs, and 0 for PIs and INIs.

The prevalence of HIVDR was relatively high in both ART-naïve PLHIV and those receiving ART. Without universal pretreatment HIVDR testing and more frequent routine HIV viral load testing among PLHIV who are on ART, the HIVDR prevalence might increase in PLHIV in Iran.