HIV Assay Aids Treatment Decisions

A study suggests that an HIV replication capacity assay can be an additional predictor of clinical outcome and may complement other laboratory parameters, such as viral load and CD4 cell counts, in making decisions about individualized antiretroviral treatment of HIV patients. The study was published in the April 1, 2003, issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Researchers explored the role of various host, immune, therapeutic, and viral factors in treatment outcomes of HIV-infected patients after prolonged protease inhibitor-based, highly active antiretroviral therapy. The replication capacity assay was used to investigate replication capacity (RC) in the absence of drugs and to assess phenotypic susceptibility of HIV to antiretroviral drugs. The results showed that several factors may impact the progression of disease, including RC, HIV co-receptor tropism, activation of immune cells, and immune responses to HIV. For example, in patients with discordant responses, reduced RC was associated with the maintenance of CD4 cell counts. Decreasing CD4 cell counts are associated with disease progression. The RC assay, called PhenoSense, was developed by ViroLogic, Inc. (S. San Francisco, CA, USA; www.virologic.com).

"Proper monitoring of patient and viral parameters, including measurement of HIV RC may facilitate the choice of optimal therapeutic regimens,” said Charles Hicks, M.D., associate director of the AIDS Research and Treatment Center at Duke University (Durham, NC, USA) and head of the study team.




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