title: Clinical monitoring of HIV-1 infection in the ERA of antiretroviral resistance testing.
abstract: Viral replication of HIV-1 in the human body is a dynamic process. Incomplete suppression of replication during antiretroviral therapy ultimately selects for resistance that imparts an adaptive advantage to HIV-1. Therefore, the goal of antiretroviral therapy is complete suppression of viral replication. Viral suppression to below the lowest possible limits of detection has been associated with an optimal clinical response and delay of drug resistance. An ultrasensitive viral load assay with a very low threshold of detection remains our best laboratory tool to monitor the response to therapy. Patients may fail HAART for many reasons. Only when other potential causes of treatment failure are excluded should antiretroviral resistance testing be considered. Genotypic and phenotypic assays for assessing resistance are now available, and recent retrospective and prospective data support their use in clinical management as an adjunct to helping to choose among different antiretroviral drugs. Despite the growing enthusiasm for these tests, improvements in sensitivity, turnaround time, and quality control are still needed. A practitioner's decision about when to initiate or change therapy in an HIV-infected patient should depend primarily on viral load results, and not on antiretroviral resistance test results. Moreover, resistance testing is no substitute for a thorough clinical and drug history. As we approach the third decade of the HIV epidemic, we will learn how to use antiretroviral resistance tests in conjunction with (not in lieu of) proven clinical and laboratory tools.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Disease Division and AIDS Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Kartsonis
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: D'Aquila
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors