Higher-Than-Expected Rate of HIV Drug Resistance

A study of HIV drug resistance has shown that 78% of US HIV patients with measurable levels of virus in their blood are infected with an HIV strain that is resistant to one or more AIDS drugs.

The study involved 209,000 HIV-infected adults who were receiving medical care in 1996 and were alive at the end of 1998 or early 1999. Data from the study showed HIV drug resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in 70% of tested patients, to nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in 31% of patients, and to protease inhibitors in 42% of patients. Nor was resistance limited to those who had been heavily treated. In all, 41% of patients not receiving therapy also showed signs of drug resistance. This means that drug-resistant virus may exist in patients who have not started therapy or who have discontinued prior therapy.

The study researchers used a direct and sensitive drug resistance test, PhenoSense HIV, from ViroLogic, Inc. (So. San Francisco, CA, USA). The company develops and markets therapies to treat serious viral diseases such as AIDS and hepatitis.

"This is the first comprehensive study to show just how prevalent drug resistance has become in the U.S., and underscores the need for physicians and patients to understand
both the magnitude of the resistance problem and the therapeutic approaches available to address it,” said Douglas Richman, M.D., professor of pathology and medicine, University of California, San Diego, and director, Research Center for AIDS and HIV Infection, VA San Diego Healthcare System.




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