HIV-1 Subtypes of HIV-1 patients with virologic failure in different voluntary counseling testing and treatment centers in Khartoum State, Sudan, 2020

<p><strong>Background</strong>: Various HIV subtypes have evolved and play significant roles in the pathogenesis, progression, and response to treating human immunodeficiency virus.</p> <p><strong>Method</strong>: One hundred and ten HIV-1 patients who attended different voluntary counseling testing and treatment centers in Khartoum state were included. Nested PCR was done for the <em>Pol</em> gene in plasma samples that showed virologic failure, and then successfully amplified samples were sequenced for HIV-1 ­­subtype's identification.</p> <p><strong>Result</strong>: Out of the total, 20 (18.2%) samples showed virologic failure, of them only 9 (45%) were successfully amplified and sequenced; of them, 55.6% (5/9) belonged to subtype C, and only 11.1% (1/9) occurred at the frequency of each subtype A, D, G, and K.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion</strong>: No relationship between HIV-1 subtypes and increased viral load were detected, although HIV-1 subtypes are still a strong predictor of disease progression.</p>