Discrepancies in assignment of subtype/recombinant forms by genotyping programs for HIV type 1 drug resistance testing may falsely predict superinfection.
With the growing diversity of the HIV pandemic, routine genotyping is an important tool for monitoring viral subtype as well as drug resistance. In this regard, numerous subtyping tools and drug resistance algorithms are available online. However, there are discrepancies in the use of these online tools in the designation of HIV-1 subtypes or recombinant forms that may have an impact on drug susceptibility profiles. Indeed, inconsistencies in some of these tools may lead to a false designation of dual infection and/or superinfection. In this case study, we evaluated the sequence diversity of an infection that was referred to us as a potential case of superinfection as a result of variations in designation of subtype. We evaluated sequences using five different online tools and finally determined by phylogenetic analysis that the sequence was a unique A1/C intersubtype recombinant at baseline and not a case of superinfection.
Ntemgwa
Michel
M
McGill University AIDS Centre, Lady Davis Institute-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Gill
M John
MJ
Brenner
Bluma G
BG
Moisi
Daniela
D
Wainberg
Mark A
MA
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024882:Drug Resistance, Viral; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D015163:Superinfection / Q000175:diagnosis
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents