Low-frequency nevirapine resistance at multiple sites may predict treatment failure in infants on nevirapine-based treatment.

Keywords:

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Resistance commonly arises in infants exposed to single-dose nevirapine (sdNVP) for prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT). While K103N and Y181C are common following sdNVP, multiple other mutations also confer NVP-resistance. It remains unclear whether specific NVP-resistance mutations or combinations of mutations predict virologic failure in infants when present at low frequencies prior to NVP-based treatment. METHODS: Twenty sdNVP-exposed infants who were subsequently treated with NVP-based highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) were examined. Pre-treatment plasma samples were tested for the presence of NVP-resistance mutations by allele-specific PCR (ASPCR) for K103N and Y181C and ultra-deep pyrosequencing (UDPS) for all primary NVP mutations. Viral levels were determined every 3 months for up to 24 months on NVP-HAART. Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine correlates of viral failure. RESULTS: The NVP resistance mutations K103N or Y181C were detected in pre-treatment plasma samples in 6 infants by ASPCR. NVP resistance at these or other sites was detectable by UDPS in 10 out of 20 infants tested. Virologic failure occurred in 50% of infants with any NVP resistance mutations detected, while only 20% of infants without resistance experienced viral failure, but the difference was not significant (p=0.19). An increase in the number of NVP resistance mutations detectable by UDPS in an infant was significantly associated with an increased risk of virologic failure (HR=1.79 (95%CI: 1.07, 2.99), p=0.027). CONCLUSIONS: Low frequencies of multiple NVP resistance mutations, in addition to K103N and Y181C, present in infants before NVP-based treatment may predict treatment outcome.