Characterization of HIV-1 Isolates from ARV Drug-Naive Children in South India

[Guest guest]

Characterization of HIV-1 Isolates from Antiretroviral Drug-Naive

Children in Southern India

Lakshmi Soundararajan, Ramesh Karunaianandham, Jauvin, Marie

Helene Schrive, Ranjani Ramachandran, Paranji R. Narayanan, Herve J.

Fleury, Soumya Swaminathan. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses.

2007, 23(9): 1119-1126. doi:10.1089/aid.2007.0012.

Access to antiretroviral therapy has expanded in many developing

countries, including India. The standard first-line regimens consist

of a combination of two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors

and a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, in a fixed drug

combination.

Data regarding resistance to these drugs are scarce, especially in

children. We evaluated the pattern of polymorphism and potential drug

resistance mutations (DRMs) in HIV-1 isolates from 48 children naive

to antiretroviral therapy attending the outpatient clinics of the

Tuberculosis Research Center in Chennai. The samples were subjected

to genotyping of reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease genes. All

the samples showed significant polymorphisms in both RT and protease

genes, but none had major DRMs.

The currently recommended generic first-line antiretroviral drug

combination is an appropriate treatment strategy for HIV-1-infected

children in India.