Phylogeny and drug resistance of HIV PR gene among HIV patients receiving RT inhibitors in Iran

Objective: To survey the level and patterns of reverse transcriptase-based drug resistance and subtype distribution among antiretroviral-treated HIV-infected patients receiving only reverse transcriptase inhibitors in Iran. Methods: A total of 25 samples of antiretroviral therapy experienced patients with no history of using protease inhibitors were collected. After RNA extraction, reverse transcriptase-nested PCR was performed. The final products were sequenced and then analysed for drug-resistant mutations and subtypes. Results: No drug resistant mutations were observed among the 25 subjects. The results showed the following subtypes among patients:CRF 35_AD (88%), CRF 28_BF (8%), and CRF 29_BF (4%). Conclusions: A significant increase in drug resistance has been noted in recently-infected patients worldwide. Subtype distributions are needed to perform properly-designed surveillance studies to continuously monitor rates and patterns of transmitted drug resistance and subtypes to help guide therapeutic approaches and limit transmission of these variants.

The emergence of drug resistant HIV variants and novel anti-retroviral therapy

After its identification in 1980s, HIV has infected more than 30 million people worldwide. In the era of highly active anti-retroviral therapy, anti-retroviral drug resistance results from insufficient anti-retroviral pressure, which may lead to treatment failure. Preliminary studies support the idea that anti-retroviral drug resistance has evolved largely as a result of low-adherence of patients to therapy and extensive use of anti-retroviral drugs in the developed world;however, a highly heterogeneous horde of viral quasi-species are currently circulating in developing nations. Thus, the prioritizing of strategies adopted in such two worlds should be quite different considering the varying anti-retroviral drug resistance prevalence. In this article, we explore differences in anti-retroviral drug resistance patterns between developed and developing countries, as they represent two distinct ecological niches of HIV from an evolutionary standpoint.