1
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Gabrielaite M, Bennedbæk M, Rasmussen MS, Kan V, Furrer H, Flisiak R, Losso M, Lundgren JD, Marvig RL. Deep-sequencing of viral genomes from a large and diverse cohort of treatment-naive HIV-infected persons shows associations between intrahost genetic diversity and viral load. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1010756. [PMID: 36595537 PMCID: PMC9838853 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) typically results from transmission of a small and genetically uniform viral population. Following transmission, the virus population becomes more diverse because of recombination and acquired mutations through genetic drift and selection. Viral intrahost genetic diversity remains a major obstacle to the cure of HIV; however, the association between intrahost diversity and disease progression markers has not been investigated in large and diverse cohorts for which the majority of the genome has been deep-sequenced. Viral load (VL) is a key progression marker and understanding of its relationship to viral intrahost genetic diversity could help design future strategies for HIV monitoring and treatment. METHODS We analysed deep-sequenced viral genomes from 2,650 treatment-naive HIV-infected persons to measure the intrahost genetic diversity of 2,447 genomic codon positions as calculated by Shannon entropy. We tested for associations between VL and amino acid (AA) entropy accounting for sex, age, race, duration of infection, and HIV population structure. RESULTS We confirmed that the intrahost genetic diversity is highest in the env gene. Furthermore, we showed that mean Shannon entropy is significantly associated with VL, especially in infections of >24 months duration. We identified 16 significant associations between VL (p-value<2.0x10-5) and Shannon entropy at AA positions which in our association analysis explained 13% of the variance in VL. Finally, equivalent analysis based on variation in HIV consensus sequences explained only 2% of VL variance. CONCLUSIONS Our results elucidate that viral intrahost genetic diversity is associated with VL and could be used as a better disease progression marker than HIV consensus sequence variants, especially in infections of longer duration. We emphasize that viral intrahost diversity should be considered when studying viral genomes and infection outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION Samples included in this study were derived from participants who consented in the clinical trial, START (NCT00867048) (23), run by the International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT). All the participant sites are listed here: http://www.insight-trials.org/start/my_phpscript/participating.php?by=site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Migle Gabrielaite
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
- * E-mail: (MG); (MB)
| | - Marc Bennedbæk
- Centre of Excellence for Health, Immunity and Infections, Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- * E-mail: (MG); (MB)
| | - Malthe Sebro Rasmussen
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Section of Computational and RNA Biology, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Virginia Kan
- Veterans Affairs Medical Center and The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America
| | - Hansjakob Furrer
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Robert Flisiak
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland
| | - Marcelo Losso
- Hospital General De Agudos J M Ramos Mejía, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Jens D. Lundgren
- Centre of Excellence for Health, Immunity and Infections, Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Rasmus L. Marvig
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
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2
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Evaluation of HIV-1 drug resistance among patients failing first-line antiretroviral therapy in Ethiopia. J Glob Antimicrob Resist 2022; 30:418-427. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jgar.2022.07.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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3
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HIV-1 Drug Resistance Assay Using Ion Torrent Next Generation Sequencing and On-Instrument End-to-End Analysis Software. J Clin Microbiol 2022; 60:e0025322. [PMID: 35699434 DOI: 10.1128/jcm.00253-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
HIV-1 antiretroviral therapy management requires sequencing the protease, reverse transcriptase, and integrase portions of the HIV-1 pol gene. Most resistance testing is performed with Sanger sequencing, which has limited ability to detect minor variants. Next generation sequencing (NGS) platforms enable variant detection at frequencies as low as 1% allowing for earlier detection of resistance and modification of therapy. Implementation of NGS assays in the clinical laboratory is hindered by complicated assay design, cumbersome wet bench procedures, and the complexity of data analysis and bioinformatics. We developed a complete NGS protocol and companion analysis and reporting pipeline using AmpliSeq multiplex PCR, Ion Torrent S5 XL sequencing, and Stanford's HIVdb resistance algorithm. Implemented as a Torrent Suite software plugin, the pipeline runs automatically after sequencing. An optimum variant frequency threshold of 10% was determined by comparing Sanger sequences of archived samples from ViroSeq testing, resulting in a sensitivity of 98.2% and specificity of 99.0%. The majority (91%) of drug resistance mutations were detected by both Sanger and NGS, with 1.7% only by Sanger and 7.3% only by NGS. Variant calls were highly reproducible and there was no cross-reactivity to VZV, HBV, CMV, EBV, and HCV. The limit of detection was 500 copies/mL. The NGS assay performance was comparable to ViroSeq Sanger sequencing and has several advantages, including a publicly available end-to-end analysis and reporting plugin. The assay provides a straightforward path for implementation of NGS for HIV drug resistance testing in the laboratory setting without additional investment in bioinformatics infrastructure and resources.
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4
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Ogola B, Matume ND, Mavhandu-Ramarumo LG, Tebit DM, Bessong PO. Drug Resistance Mutations in a Population Before Antiretroviral Therapy Initiation in Northern South Africa. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2022; 38:248-256. [PMID: 34107774 DOI: 10.1089/aid.2021.0026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
South Africa introduced the "diagnose and treat" universal HIV treatment program in September 2016. This program enables all identified HIV-positive patients to immediately start first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, the presence of drug-resistant (DR) viruses in the drug-naive population complicates the choice of ART. We used next-generation sequencing (NGS) to determine the prevalence and diversity of HIV DR mutations in patients entering HIV treatment programs in northern South Africa. RNA was isolated from plasma of drug-naive HIV-1-infected patients. Using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, the HIV-1-pol gene comprising the complete protease (PR) and the first 900 bp of reverse transcriptase (RT) was amplified and sequenced on an Illumina MiniSeq platform. Consensus sequences were derived at >20% threshold and at >5% threshold using Geneious PRIME® software version 2020.1.2. HIV-1 surveillance drug resistance mutations (SDRM) were inferred using Calibrated Population Resistance tool in HIV Drug Resistance Database. Viral subtypes were determined using REGA and RIP genotyping tools. The HIV PR/RT region was successfully sequenced from 241 patients. From these, 23 (9.5%) had at least one SDRM detected at >20% threshold, with a prevalence of 9.5% (n = 18), 3% (n = 7), and 0.4% (n = 1) for non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI), nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI), and protease inhibitors (PI), respectively. The number of patients with SDRM increased to 31 (12.9%) when minority variants were accounted for at >5% threshold. The most frequent SDRMs based on drug class were; K103N (7.9%-NNRTI), K65R (2.5%-NRTI), and D30N (0.8%-PI). Four cases of dual NRTI/NNRTI mutations were identified. All consensus sequences were subtype C, except three, which were C/A1, C/F1, and C/G recombinants. NGS analysis confirms that individuals entering HIV treatment programs in northern South Africa, habor moderate levels of SDRM, including cases of dual-class drug resistance. Further SDRM studies may be required to better understand resistance in the drug-naive population in the era of "diagnose and treat" in Limpopo Province, South Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bixa Ogola
- HIV/AIDS & Global Health Research Program, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
| | - Nontokozo D. Matume
- HIV/AIDS & Global Health Research Program, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
| | | | - Denis M. Tebit
- HIV/AIDS & Global Health Research Program, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
- Global Biomed Scientific LLC, PO Box 2368, Forest, VA 24551, USA
| | - Pascal O. Bessong
- HIV/AIDS & Global Health Research Program, University of Venda, Thohoyandou, South Africa
- Center for Global Health Equity, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
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5
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Abstract
HIV-1 is genetically heterogeneous, having different subtypes and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs). HIV-1 genotyping is used to determine drug resistance profiles and is based on the use of a mixture of consensus and degenerate primers targeting the pol gene. However, the use of this type of primers is associated with either PCR bias or PCR failure. Consensus-degenerate hybrid oligonucleotide primers (CODEHOPs) can detect and identify unknown and distantly related gene sequences by PCR. CODEHOPs designed using different HIV-1 subtypes and CRFs were evaluated for HIV-1 genotyping by Sanger and MinION sequencing. A total of 321 plasma samples were used for the validation of CODEHOP-mediated HIV-1 genotyping. CODEHOP-mediated PCR showed 100% sensitivity and specificity, with limits of detection and genotyping below 200 copies/ml. The head-to-head evaluation of CODEHOP-mediated PCR and standard PCR showed 97 to 98% and 82 to 84% PCR success rates, respectively. There was 100% agreement between the CODEHOP and the reference method in the drug resistance profiles determined by Sanger-based sequencing. Using MinION sequencing, the CODEHOP-mediated PCR scheme resulted in better depth of genome coverage and detection of more drug resistance variants in the protease and reverse transcriptase genes than the standard amplification scheme. The overall prevalences of drug resistance mutations were 17.1% in treatment-experienced patients and 1.2% in treatment-naive patients. They were mainly associated with resistance to reverse transcriptase inhibitors and were linked to virological failure and the patient’s treatment history. Findings from this study suggest that the performance of HIV-1 genotyping is improved by using CODEHOP-mediated PCR. IMPORTANCE HIV-1 drug resistance is the main cause of treatment failure. Regular surveillance of resistance-associated mutations in HIV-1 genomes is essential for the optimal management of HIV-1 infections. Due to HIV-1’s genetic diversity, different HIV-1 genotypes are circulating worldwide. Standard primers used in the amplification of HIV-1 RNA have not been designed to cover all HIV-1 genotypes and are the main cause of amplification and drug resistance test failure. In this study, new sets of PCR primers targeting the protease, reverse transcriptase, and integrase genes were designed using the CODEHOP approach. They were compared to primers recommended in part by WHO for drug resistance testing using in-house PCR. Unsuccessful HIV-1 RNA amplification was less likely to occur with CODEHOP primers, leading to fewer test failures and lower cost. Furthermore, CODEHOP primers were more effective than standard primers for the detection of minority resistant variants by MinION sequencing.
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6
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Park SY, Faraci G, Murphy G, Pilcher C, Busch MP, Lee HY. Microdrop Human Immunodeficiency Virus Sequencing for Incidence and Drug Resistance Surveillance. J Infect Dis 2021; 224:1048-1059. [PMID: 33517458 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiab060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Precise and cost-efficient human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence and drug resistance surveillances are in high demand for the advancement of the 90-90-90 "treatment for all" target. METHODS We developed microdrop HIV sequencing for the HIV incidence and drug resistance assay (HIDA), a single-blood-draw surveillance tool for incidence and drug resistance mutation (DRM) detection. We amplified full-length HIV envelope and pol gene sequences within microdroplets, and this compartmental amplification with long-read high-throughput sequencing enabled us to recover multiple unique sequences. RESULTS We achieved greater precision in determining the stage of infection than current incidence assays, with a 1.2% false recency rate (proportion of misclassified chronic infections) and a 262-day mean duration of recent infection (average time span of recent infection classification) from 83 recently infected and 81 chronically infected individuals. Microdrop HIV sequencing demonstrated an increased capacity to detect minority variants and linked DRMs. By screening all 93 World Health Organization surveillance DRMs, we detected 6 pretreatment drug resistance mutations with 2.6%-13.2% prevalence and cross-linked mutations. CONCLUSIONS HIDA with microdrop HIV sequencing may promote global HIV real-time surveillance by serving as a precise and high-throughput cross-sectional survey tool that can be generalized for surveillance of other pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sung Yong Park
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Gina Faraci
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Gary Murphy
- Public Health England, London, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher Pilcher
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Michael P Busch
- Research and Scientific Programs, Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, California, USA.,Deparment of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, California, San Francisco, USA
| | - Ha Youn Lee
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Application of next generation sequencing in HIV drug resistance studies in Africa, 2005–2019: A systematic review. SCIENTIFIC AFRICAN 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sciaf.2021.e00829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
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8
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Manyana S, Gounder L, Pillay M, Manasa J, Naidoo K, Chimukangara B. HIV-1 Drug Resistance Genotyping in Resource Limited Settings: Current and Future Perspectives in Sequencing Technologies. Viruses 2021; 13:1125. [PMID: 34208165 PMCID: PMC8230827 DOI: 10.3390/v13061125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Revised: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Affordable, sensitive, and scalable technologies are needed for monitoring antiretroviral treatment (ART) success with the goal of eradicating HIV-1 infection. This review discusses use of Sanger sequencing and next generation sequencing (NGS) methods for HIV-1 drug resistance (HIVDR) genotyping, focusing on their use in resource limited settings (RLS). Sanger sequencing remains the gold-standard method for detecting HIVDR mutations of clinical relevance but is mainly limited by high sequencing costs and low-throughput. NGS is becoming a more common sequencing method, with the ability to detect low-abundance drug-resistant variants and reduce per sample costs through sample pooling and massive parallel sequencing. However, use of NGS in RLS is mainly limited by infrastructure costs. Given these shortcomings, our review discusses sequencing technologies for HIVDR genotyping, focusing on common in-house and commercial assays, challenges with Sanger sequencing in keeping up with changes in HIV-1 treatment programs, as well as challenges with NGS that limit its implementation in RLS and in clinical diagnostics. We further discuss knowledge gaps and offer recommendations on how to overcome existing barriers for implementing HIVDR genotyping in RLS, to make informed clinical decisions that improve quality of life for people living with HIV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sontaga Manyana
- National Health Laboratory Service, Department of Virology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4058, South Africa; (L.G.); (M.P.); (B.C.)
| | - Lilishia Gounder
- National Health Laboratory Service, Department of Virology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4058, South Africa; (L.G.); (M.P.); (B.C.)
| | - Melendhran Pillay
- National Health Laboratory Service, Department of Virology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4058, South Africa; (L.G.); (M.P.); (B.C.)
| | - Justen Manasa
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Investigative Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe;
| | - Kogieleum Naidoo
- Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Durban 4013, South Africa;
- South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), CAPRISA HIV-TB Pathogenesis and Treatment Research Unit, Durban 4013, South Africa
| | - Benjamin Chimukangara
- National Health Laboratory Service, Department of Virology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4058, South Africa; (L.G.); (M.P.); (B.C.)
- Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), Durban 4013, South Africa;
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9
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Mbunkah HA, Bertagnolio S, Hamers RL, Hunt G, Inzaule S, Rinke De Wit TF, Paredes R, Parkin NT, Jordan MR, Metzner KJ. Low-Abundance Drug-Resistant HIV-1 Variants in Antiretroviral Drug-Naive Individuals: A Systematic Review of Detection Methods, Prevalence, and Clinical Impact. J Infect Dis 2021; 221:1584-1597. [PMID: 31809534 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The presence of high-abundance drug-resistant HIV-1 jeopardizes success of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Despite numerous investigations, the clinical impact of low-abundance drug-resistant HIV-1 variants (LA-DRVs) at levels <15%-25% of the virus population in antiretroviral (ARV) drug-naive individuals remains controversial. METHODS We systematically reviewed 103 studies assessing prevalence, detection methods, technical and clinical detection cutoffs, and clinical significance of LA-DRVs in antiretroviral drug-naive adults. RESULTS In total, 14 919 ARV drug-naive individuals were included. Prevalence of LA-DRVs (ie, proportion of individuals harboring LA-DRVs) was 0%-100%. Technical detection cutoffs showed a 4 log range (0.001%-10%); 42/103 (40.8%) studies investigating the impact of LA-DRVs on ART; 25 studies included only individuals on first-line nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based ART regimens. Eleven of those 25 studies (44.0%) reported a significantly association between preexisting LA-DRVs and risk of virological failure whereas 14/25 (56.0%) did not. CONCLUSIONS Comparability of the 103 studies is hampered by high heterogeneity of the studies' designs and use of different methods to detect LA-DRVs. Thus, evaluating clinical impact of LA-DRVs on first-line ART remains challenging. We, the WHO HIVResNet working group, defined central areas of future investigations to guide further efforts to implement ultrasensitive resistance testing in routine settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Herbert A Mbunkah
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.,Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.,Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Langen, Germany
| | | | - Raph L Hamers
- Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.,Eijkman-Oxford Clinical Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia.,Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Gillian Hunt
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Seth Inzaule
- Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tobias F Rinke De Wit
- Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development, Amsterdam University Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Roger Paredes
- Infectious Diseases Service and IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute for AIDS Research, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Catalonia, Spain
| | | | - Michael R Jordan
- Division of Geographic Medicine and Infectious Disease, Tufts University School of Medicine, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Karin J Metzner
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland.,Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
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10
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Saha A, Dixit NM. Pre-existing resistance in the latent reservoir can compromise VRC01 therapy during chronic HIV-1 infection. PLoS Comput Biol 2020; 16:e1008434. [PMID: 33253162 PMCID: PMC7728175 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 10/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Passive immunization with broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) of HIV-1 appears a promising strategy for eliciting long-term HIV-1 remission. When administered concomitantly with the cessation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to patients with established viremic control, bNAb therapy is expected to prolong remission. Surprisingly, in clinical trials on chronic HIV-1 patients, the bNAb VRC01 failed to prolong remission substantially. Identifying the cause of this failure is important for improving VRC01-based therapies and unraveling potential vulnerabilities of other bNAbs. In the trials, viremia resurged rapidly in most patients despite suppressive VRC01 concentrations in circulation, suggesting that VRC01 resistance was the likely cause of failure. ART swiftly halts viral replication, precluding the development of resistance during ART. If resistance were to emerge post ART, virological breakthrough would have taken longer than without VRC01 therapy. We hypothesized therefore that VRC01-resistant strains must have been formed before ART initiation, survived ART in latently infected cells, and been activated during VRC01 therapy, causing treatment failure. Current assays preclude testing this hypothesis experimentally. We developed a mathematical model based on the hypothesis and challenged it with available clinical data. The model integrated within-host HIV-1 evolution, stochastic latency reactivation, and viral dynamics with multiple-dose VRC01 pharmacokinetics. The model predicted that single but not higher VRC01-resistant mutants would pre-exist in the latent reservoir. We constructed a virtual patient population that parsimoniously recapitulated inter-patient variations. Model predictions with this population quantitatively captured data of VRC01 failure from clinical trials, presenting strong evidence supporting the hypothesis. We attributed VRC01 failure to single-mutant VRC01-resistant proviruses in the latent reservoir triggering viral recrudescence, particularly when VRC01 was at trough levels. Pre-existing resistant proviruses in the latent reservoir may similarly compromise other bNAbs. Our study provides a framework for designing bNAb-based therapeutic protocols that would avert such failure and maximize HIV-1 remission. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) can control but not eradicate HIV-1. Stopping ART leads to rapid viral resurgence and progressive disease. ART is therefore administered lifelong. Tremendous efforts are ongoing to devise strategies that will enable stopping ART and yet prevent viral resurgence. One such strategy involves the administration of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) of HIV-1 at the time of stopping ART. This strategy is expected to delay if not prevent viral resurgence. Surprisingly, treatment with VRC01, a potent bNAb, resulted in hardly any improvement in viral remission. In this study, we elucidate the cause of this failure. We hypothesized that VRC01-resistant strains may pre-exist in latently infected cells, which are unaffected by ART. They can thus outlast ART and get reactivated, triggering VRC01 failure. We built a detailed mathematical model based on this hypothesis and showed that it quantitatively captured observations of VRC01 failure in clinical trials on chronic HIV-1 patients. Our study thus identifies a potential vulnerability of bNAbs, namely, bNAb-resistant strains pre-existing in latently infected cells. Our model offers a framework for predicting bNAb-based treatment protocols that would preclude failure due to pre-existing resistance and maximally prolong remission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ananya Saha
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
| | - Narendra M. Dixit
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
- Centre for Biosystems Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India
- * E-mail:
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11
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Next-Generation Sequencing for HIV Drug Resistance Testing: Laboratory, Clinical, and Implementation Considerations. Viruses 2020; 12:v12060617. [PMID: 32516949 PMCID: PMC7354449 DOI: 10.3390/v12060617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Revised: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Higher accessibility and decreasing costs of next generation sequencing (NGS), availability of commercial kits, and development of dedicated analysis pipelines, have allowed an increasing number of laboratories to adopt this technology for HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) genotyping. Conventional HIVDR genotyping is traditionally carried out using population-based Sanger sequencing, which has a limited capacity for reliable detection of variants present at intra-host frequencies below a threshold of approximately 20%. NGS has the potential to improve sensitivity and quantitatively identify low-abundance variants, improving efficiency and lowering costs. However, some challenges exist for the standardization and quality assurance of NGS-based HIVDR genotyping. In this paper, we highlight considerations of these challenges as related to laboratory, clinical, and implementation of NGS for HIV drug resistance testing. Several sources of variation and bias occur in each step of the general NGS workflow, i.e., starting material, sample type, PCR amplification, library preparation method, instrument and sequencing chemistry-inherent errors, and data analysis options and limitations. Additionally, adoption of NGS-based HIVDR genotyping, especially for clinical care, poses pressing challenges, especially for resource-poor settings, including infrastructure and equipment requirements and cost, logistic and supply chains, instrument service availability, personnel training, validated laboratory protocols, and standardized analysis outputs. The establishment of external quality assessment programs may help to address some of these challenges and is needed to proceed with NGS-based HIVDR genotyping adoption.
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12
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Sidhu G, Schuster L, Liu L, Tamashiro R, Li E, Langaee T, Wagner R, Wang GP. A single variant sequencing method for sensitive and quantitative detection of HIV-1 minority variants. Sci Rep 2020; 10:8185. [PMID: 32424187 PMCID: PMC7234988 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-65085-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
Abstract
HIV drug resistance is a major threat to achieving long-term viral suppression in HIV-positive individuals. Drug resistant HIV variants, including minority variants, can compromise response to antiretroviral therapy. Many studies have investigated the clinical relevance of drug resistant minority variants, but the level at which minority variants become clinically relevant remains unclear. A combination of Primer-ID and deep sequencing is a promising approach that may quantify minority variants more accurately compared to standard deep sequencing. However, most studies that used the Primer-ID method have analyzed clinical samples directly. Thus, its sensitivity and quantitative accuracy have not been adequately validated using known controls. Here, we constructed defined proportions of artificial RNA and virus quasispecies and measured their relative proportions using the Primer-ID based, quantitative single-variant sequencing (qSVS) assay. Our results showed that minority variants present at 1% of quasispecies were detected reproducibly with minimal variations between technical replicates. In addition, the measured frequencies were comparable to the expected frequencies. These data validate the accuracy and reproducibility of the qSVS assay in quantifying authentic HIV minority variants, and support the use of this approach to examine the impacts of minority HIV variants on virologic response and clinical outcome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gurjit Sidhu
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Layla Schuster
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Medosome Biosciences, Alachua, FL, USA
| | - Lin Liu
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,Department of Medicine, St. Luke's Hospital, Chesterfield, MO, USA
| | - Ryan Tamashiro
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Eric Li
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Taimour Langaee
- Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research, Center for Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | | | - Gary P Wang
- Division of Infectious Disease and Global Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. .,Infectious Diseases Section, Medical Service, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, Gainesville, FL, USA.
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Chrysostomou AC, Topcu C, Stylianou DC, Hezka J, Kostrikis LG. Development of a new comprehensive HIV-1 genotypic drug resistance assay for all commercially available reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase inhibitors in patients infected with group M HIV-1 strains. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2020; 81:104243. [PMID: 32061896 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2020.104243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2019] [Revised: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Comprehensive PCR assays for the genotypic drug resistance analysis of all HIV-1 antiretroviral agents (reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase inhibitors) are increasingly in demand due to introduction of integrase inhibitors in the first line regimens and the increasing presence of non-B HIV-1 clades around the world. This study focused on the development and evaluation of a new PCR-based assay for the amplification and sequencing of the entire HIV-1 pol region of major circulating group M HIV-1 strains in Europe for genotypic drug resistance analysis. The comprehensive touchdown PCR assay developed in this study utilized HIV-1 RNA extracted from the plasma of blood samples of consenting HIV-1 infected patients in Cyprus, collected from 2017 to 2019. The HIV-1 pol region was amplified by touchdown PCR for both the primary RT-PCR and the secondary PCR steps. Successful PCR amplicons were determined by population DNA sequencing, using the Sanger method and the genotypic drug resistance analysis was performed with the Stanford University HIV Drug Resistance Database Program. The newly developed assay successfully amplified the entire HIV-1 pol region (2844 nucleotides long) of 141 out of 144 samples of group M HIV-1 subtypes and recombinant strains of the Cyprus HIV-1 Transmission Cohort Study (CHICS) isolated from 2017 to 2019 and genotypic analyses were conducted for all currently available HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, protease and integrase inhibitors. The drug resistance, epidemiological and demographic data of these study subjects will be expanded upon in the CHICS (L.G. Kostrikis et al., manuscript in preparation for publication). The newly developed HIV-1 genotypic drug resistance assay would benefit clinical settings, and research focusing on the world-wide spread of HIV-1 drug-resistant strains, especially in geographic regions characterized by polyphyletic HIV-1 infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas C Chrysostomou
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, 1 University Avenue, Aglantzia 2109, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Cicek Topcu
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, 1 University Avenue, Aglantzia 2109, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Dora C Stylianou
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, 1 University Avenue, Aglantzia 2109, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Johana Hezka
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, 1 University Avenue, Aglantzia 2109, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Leondios G Kostrikis
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, 1 University Avenue, Aglantzia 2109, Nicosia, Cyprus.
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