Prospective Evaluation of the Vela Diagnostics Next-Generation Sequencing Platform for HIV-1 Genotypic Resistance Testing

Abstract

Genotypic antiretroviral drug resistance testing is a critical component of the global efforts to control the HIV-1 epidemic. This study investigates the semiautomated, next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based Vela Diagnostics Sentosa SQ HIV-1 Genotyping Assay in a prospective cohort of HIV-1-infected patients. Two-hundred sixty-nine samples were successfully sequenced by both NGS and Sanger sequencing. Among the 261 protease/reverse transcriptase (PR/RT) sequences, a mean of 0.37 drug resistance mutations were identified by both Sanger and NGS, 0.08 by NGS alone, and 0.03 by Sanger alone. Among the 50 integrase sequences, a mean of 0.3 drug resistance mutations were detected by both Sanger and NGS, and 0.08 by NGS alone. NGS estimated higher levels of drug resistance to one or more antiretroviral drugs for 6.5% of PR/RT sequences and 4.0% of integrase sequences, whereas Sanger estimated higher levels of drug resistance for 3.8% of PR/RT sequences. Although the samples successfully sequenced by the Sentosa SQ HIV Genotyping Assay demonstrated similar predicted resistance compared with Sanger, 44% of Sentosa runs failed quality control requiring 17 additional runs. This semi-automated NGS-based assay may aid in HIV-1 genotypic drug resistance testing, though numerous quality control issues were observed when this platform was used in a clinical laboratory setting. With additional refinement, the Sentosa SQ HIV-1 Genotyping Assay may contribute to the global efforts to control HIV-1.