Prevalence of HIV-1 resistant to antiretroviral drugs in 81 individuals newly infected by sexual contact or injecting drug use. Investigators of the Quebec Primary Infection Study.
OBJECTIVE
Prolonged treatment with antiretroviral drugs results in the selection of HIV-1 variants with mutations conferring resistance to nucleoside and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI and NNRTI) or to protease inhibitors (PI). There is serious concern about transmission of resistant viruses to newly infected persons. This study monitored the prevalence of resistant viruses in individuals undergoing primary HIV infection.


METHODS
Resistance testing was performed on 81 individuals infected between 1997 and 1999 by injecting drug use (n =21), sexual (n = 56), or unknown (n = 4) transmission.


METHODS
Automated sequencing was used to genotype the reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease regions of virus isolated from patients' plasma. The phenotypic susceptibility of stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells to antiretroviral drugs was assayed. Line probe assays detected quasispecies variations in wild-type and mutated RT codons.


RESULTS
A high prevalence of PI and RT genotypic variants, associated with high-level resistance to antiretroviral drugs, was observed in individuals newly infected by injecting drug use (PI = 24%, RT = 24%) or sexual transmission (PI = 12%, RT = 22%). The PI mutations, L101, V82A, and L90M, were found in 10.5, 3 and 4% of cases, respectively; whereas for RT, primary mutations at positions T215Y (zidovudine), M184V (lamivudine), T69D/A (zalcitabine), and K103N (multi-NNRTI) were present in 8, 5, 4, and 4% of subjects, respectively. Resistance to NRTI was demonstrated by phenotypic, genotypic, and line probe analyses. Transmission of multidrug (NRTI/NNRTI/PI) resistance in eight subjects (9.9%) was confirmed by showing that source partners possessed viruses of similar genotype.


CONCLUSIONS
The transmission of drug-resistant HIV is a serious problem that merits further attention by public health officials as well as virologists and clinicians.
Salomon
H
H
McGill University AIDS Centre, the Reseau FRSQ-SIDA, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Wainberg
M A
MA
Brenner
B
B
Quan
Y
Y
Rouleau
D
D
Coté
P
P
LeBlanc
R
R
Lefebvre
E
E
Spira
B
B
Tsoukas
C
C
Sekaly
R P
RP
Conway
B
B
Mayers
D
D
Routy
J P
JP
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003062:Codon; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission*; D016333:HIV Protease / Q000235:genetics; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase / Q000235:genetics; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D003062:Codon; D017320:HIV Protease Inhibitors; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D016333:HIV Protease