Combination of drugs and drug-resistant reverse transcriptase results in a multiplicative increase of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 mutant frequencies.
Replication of drug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in the presence of drug can lead to the failure of antiretroviral drug treatment. Drug failure is associated with the accumulation of drug resistance mutations. Previous studies have shown that 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT), (-)2',3'-dideoxy-3'-thiacytidine (3TC), and AZT-resistant HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) can increase the virus in vivo mutation rate. In this study, the combined effects of drug-resistant RT and antiretroviral drugs on the HIV-1 mutant frequency were determined. In most cases, a multiplicative effect was observed with AZT-resistant or AZT/3TC dually resistant RT and several drugs (i.e., AZT, 3TC, hydroxyurea, and thymidine) and led to increases in the odds of recovering virus mutants to over 20 times that of the HIV-1 mutant frequency in the absence of drug or drug-resistance mutations. This observation indicates that HIV-1 can mutate at a significantly higher rate when drug-resistant virus replicates in the presence of drug. These increased mutant frequencies could have important implications for HIV-1 population dynamics and drug therapy regimens.
Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics, Center for Retrovirus Research and Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA. mansky.3@osu.edu
Louis M
LM
Mansky
Dennis K
DK
Pearl
Lisa C
LC
Gajary
D000818:Animals; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019556:COS Cells; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase / Q000378:metabolism*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D006918:Hydroxyurea / Q000494:pharmacology; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009154:Mutation; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013936:Thymidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D014779:Virus Replication; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000494:pharmacology
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D019259:Lamivudine; D015215:Zidovudine; D054303:HIV Reverse Transcriptase; D013936:Thymidine; D006918:Hydroxyurea