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Diversity of thymidine analogue resistance genotypes among newly diagnosed HIV-1-infected persons.

García-Lerma JG

Laboratory Branch, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS G-19, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. GGarcia-lerma@cdc.gov

The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has resulted in a significant decrease in HIV and AIDS-related mortality and morbidity. However, these treatments can select for drug-resistant viruses which are associated with poor virological responses to the antiretroviral therapy and possible loss of clinical benefit. Drug-resistant viruses can also be transmitted between individuals. In the absence of drug pressure, transmitted drug-resistant viruses gradually lose resistance mutations that confer a selective disadvantage as they evolve to more fit viruses. As a result, unusual resistance-related genotypes not commonly seen in treated patients may arise in the population. Viruses with unique patterns of thymidine analogue-associated mutations (TAMs) have now been identified in a substantial proportion of treatment-naive recently diagnosed persons. In this leading article, I discuss these findings and the potential impact of these unique reverse transcriptase (RT) genotypes on evolution of resistance and treatment responses.

Published 1 August 2005 in J Antimicrob Chemother, 56(2): 265-9.
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