Profile of People Living with HIV after 24 Weeks of Treatment with Dolutegravir in Kinshasa

Introduction: The sixth month appointment (M6) is crucial because at the start of the ART course, it is an indicator of the prognosis of the evolution of care and decision-making on the continuity of treatment. Objective: The objective of this study is therefore to present the profile of People Living with HIV under treatment with Dolutegravir 6 months after starting ART in Kinshasa. Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional view at M6 of a prospective cohort to determine the profile of People Living with HIV (PLHIV) after 6 months of ARV Treatment (ART) in Kinshasa, DRC. During the M6 appointment, from April to August 2022, a sample of 5 ml of blood was taken for the various analyzes from all HIV patients included. The collection of sociodemographic data as well as biological and clinical data was carried out under the same conditions as at inclusion. The parameters recorded during M6 were: age, sex, and religion, level of study, marital status, profession, socio-economic level, height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), clinical profile, opportunistic infections as well as biochemical and molecular assessment. Results: In M6, 62 patients were registered including 38 women (61.3%), thus giving a sex ratio of 1.58 in favor of women. Fifty-seven (57) patients did not respond to the appointment, representing a loss rate of 47.89%. The most common age group is between 36 and 45 years old with 16 patients (26.7%). The mean age was 42.4 ± 13.3 years. The mean weight was 60.5 ± 15.4 kg with a mean BMI of 22.6 ± 5.8 kg/m2. Thirty-four (34) patients (61.82%) were in Clinical Stage 3. Thirty-six (36) patients (67.92%) had a normal clinical condition. The most common opportunistic infections among patients in M6 were: skin pruritus (25.8%), dermatitis (22.6%) and rash (21%). The mean values of biochemical parameters of patients in M6 were within normal ranges. The median VL value was 2.92 log10 RNA copies/ml with 17.75% of patients experiencing major failure of first-line treatment. Subtype A is dominant with 13 cases (20.98%);followed by CRF02_AG (16.13%) and C subtypes (14.52%). The mutations K65R (3 cases), T69P/N (6 cases), K70R (9 cases) and M184V (8 cases) were listed in M6. Conclusion: After 6 months of treatment, the majority of patients are in clinical stage 3 with a normal clinical state. Skin infections are the majority opportunistic infections. Certain biological parameters are considerably altered. A high virological failure rate with the presence of certain mutations associated with resistance to Lamivudine and Tenofovir.