Evaluation of HLA-B* 57:01 and its effect on antiretroviral therapy in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection: Experience of a University Hospital

Abstract

Öz: Aim: Before the decision to start abacavir (ABC), which is a member of the antiretroviral therapy (ART) combinations, the presenceof the HLA-B*57:01 allele gene should be investigated in case of hypersensitivity to the drug.In recent years, many clinics tend to conduct “treat now” policy for HIV therapy. We aimed to evaluate HLA-B*57:01 test results andits effect on the initiation time of ART, combination and changing of ART.Materials and Methods: HLA-B*57:01 screening test was evaluated retrospectively in the HIV-infected patients admitted to InonuUniversity Faculty of Medicine Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology between January 2019 and December2019.Moreover, the time frame of HLA-B*57:01 tests were evaluated along with the HIV confirmation test completion time. It was evaluatedwhether there was any effect on the start of treatment and treatment change.Results: Of the 47 HIV-positive patients 44 (93.6%) were male and 3 (6.4%) were female whose HLA-B*57:01 allele was screened.The mean age ± SD of these 47 patients was 37.7 ± 13.5 years. HLA-B*57:01 gene positivity was not detected in any of our cases.After HLA-B*57:01 test detection, ten (21%) of these patients were treated with ABC sulfate plus dolutegravir sodium plus lamivudine.Five of the patients were naive patients, while the other five patients were treatment experienced.HLA-B*57: 01 allele test completion time of the patients (mean ± SD) was 4.02 ± 2.35 days. HLA-B*57:01 completion time did notdiffer statistically in patients with and without treatment change (p=0.243).Conclusion: HIV infected individuals should be started to treat with ART soon after their diagnosis. To detect the HLA-B*57:01 allelein genomic DNA is important in this period. The fact that this procedure can be performed in centers following HIV-infected patientswill positively affect the process of starting treatment.