Introduction: For this purpose, we developed, evaluated and applied highly sensitive allele-specific PCR (ASPCR) assays enabling the detection and quantification of three key mutations for AZT resistance (
K70R,
T215Y and
T215F), the two most common NVP-associated resistance mutations (
K103N and
Y181C) and the most frequent 3TC-selected mutation
M184V in the
pol open reading frame with a detection limit of <1%.
Result: Genotypic mutations associated with decreased susceptibility to AZT were detected in 11/50 (22%) women (7/50 (14%) containing
K70R alone and 4/50 (8%) with
T215Y/F mutation) whereas 9/50 (18%) women harbored NVP-resistant virus (
K