Resistance to antiretroviral therapy always results from selection for resistant viral variants. The resistance genotype can either be pre-existing, frequently as a minority clone, before the initiation of therapy or it can emerge due to ongoing viral replication that occurs despite therapy. In either case the development of a drug-resistance mutation arising during the HIV-1 life cycle is likely a random event, dependent on the rate at which new mutations arise generally in the HIV-1 population existing within an infected individual. The appearance of new mutations, in turn, will reflect intrinsic replicative properties of a given viral variant, as well as host factors, such as T cell activation state or co-receptor expression, that facilitate replication of specific viral variants. We have recently determined that one host factor not frequently considered as a source of increased viral replication, frequency of injection drug use, is positively and highly significantly associated with diversity in the env gene of HIV-1 infected injection drug users. This increase is not due to infection with a second virus and may be attributable to opiate-induced enhancement of viral replication, which has been observed in tissue culture systems. It is likely that this increased diversity will extend to viral genes other than env, including pol. Based on these findings we hypothesize that multi-drug resistant mutants will emerge more readily among injection drug users and those on methadone maintenance programs than in drug-free control subjects. To address this hypothesis we will evaluate specimens collected from over 40 women by the Women's Interagency HIV Study to answer the following questions: 1) Is the higher rate of viral genetic diversity observed in the env gene in frequent drug injectors also observed in the pol gene? 2) Is the higher rate of genetic diversity observed in frequent injection drug users also observed in individuals taking methadone? 3) Does a history of injection drug use or methadone use result in a higher incidence of resistance to HAART? The findings from this study should have important implications for the clinical approach to control of opiate addiction and antiretroviral therapy in the HIV-1- infected, drug-infected population.
| Kowalski, Jeanne; Gange, Stephen J; Schneider, Michael F et al. (2009) Relationship of injection drug use, antiretroviral therapy resistance, and genetic diversity in the HIV-1 pol gene. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 50:381-9 |
