Detection of low-frequency HIV type 1 reverse transcriptase drug resistance mutations by ultradeep sequencing in naive HIV type 1-infected individuals

AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2014 Feb;30(2):170-3. doi: 10.1089/AID.2013.0130. Epub 2013 Aug 21.

Abstract

Genotypic resistance testing is recommended to evaluate the susceptibility of HIV to antiretroviral drugs. These tests are based on bulk population sequencing and thus consider only variants representing more than 20% of the viral population, whereas next generation sequencing methods allow detection below this threshold. We aimed to evaluate the potential use of ultradeep pyrosequencing (UDPS) for genotypic resistance testing in clinical routine at the University Hospital of Bordeaux, France. We performed UDPS on reverse transcriptase (RT) from 47 HIV-1 individuals, naive of antiretroviral treatment and for whom genotypic resistance testing was requested for clinical management in 2011-2012. In 8.5% of the patients, only low-frequency variants harboring RT drug resistance mutations were detected raising the question of their clinical significance. Rilpivirine-associated resistance mutations were detected in 19.1% of our population study. To conclude, UDPS could become a routine tool for the evaluation of HIV-infected patients in hospital laboratories.

MeSH terms

  • Drug Resistance, Viral*
  • France
  • HIV Infections / virology*
  • HIV Reverse Transcriptase / genetics*
  • HIV-1 / genetics*
  • HIV-1 / isolation & purification*
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Mutation, Missense*

Substances

  • reverse transcriptase, Human immunodeficiency virus 1
  • HIV Reverse Transcriptase