Robert W. Shafer

Publication Details

• HIV-1 subtype C reverse transcriptase and protease genotypes in Zimbabwean patients failing antiretroviral therapy.

  Kantor R, Zijenah LS, Shafer RW, Mutetwa S, Johnston E, Lloyd R, von Lieven A, Israelski D, Katzenstein DA. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses. 2002; 18 (18): 1407-13

  HIV-1 drug resistance mutations have been identified and characterized mostly in subtype B HIV-1 infection. The extent to which antiretroviral drugs select for drug resistance mutations in non-subtype B HIV-1 is not known. We obtained HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease sequences from 21 Zimbabwean patients failing antiretroviral drug therapy. We compared these sequences with 56 published RT and protease subtype C sequences from untreated patients, 990 RT and 1140 protease subtype B sequences from treated patients, and 340 RT and 907 protease subtype B sequences from untreated patients and identified four mutation categories of subtype C HIV-1. Seventeen of the 21 patients (81%) had known drug resistance mutations. Mutations at 15 RT and 11 protease positions were more common in subtype C isolates than in subtype B isolates. HIV-1 subtype C-infected individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy develop many of the known subtype B drug resistance mutations. Comparison of subtype C RT and protease sequences with a large database of subtype B sequences identified subtype C-specific polymorphisms and candidate drug resistance mutations.

  PubMedID: 12512512