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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, July 2006, p. 2553-2556, Vol. 50, No. 7
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.00092-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Departments of Virology,1 Internal Medicine,2 Infectious Diseases, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France,3 Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, EA 2387, Paris, F-75013 France4
Received 23 January 2006/ Returned for modification 24 March 2006/ Accepted 25 April 2006
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The L74I and L74V mutations were present in 7% and 14% of viruses, respectively. Of the cases in which a mutation was present, the virus was of the B subtype in more than 93%. Analysis of the triplet of nucleotides at codon 74 showed that both mutations differed from the wild-type L74L by a single nucleotide change, with the thymidine in the first position replaced by an adenine for 74I and a guanine for 74V. Thus, L74I is not an intermediate that evolves to L74V. Furthermore, in patients with subsequent genotypic tests, the L74I mutation was replaced by L74V in only 5% of cases. Finally, for patients harboring 74I for more than 1 year (48%), the mutation persisted for a median of at least 3 years.
Table 1 summarizes the ORs of the mutations associated with resistance to NRTI and NNRTI that significantly increased the 74I/74V ratio. Almost all thymidine analog mutations (TAMs) increased this risk in univariate analysis. Actually, the number of TAMs was a strong risk factor for carriage of the 74I mutation (Fig. 1). The number of L74I and L74V mutations increased with the number of TAMs, but the rate of increase was higher for L74I. In a multivariate analysis, five mutations were statistically significant (Table 1). The highest risk was associated with the T215F, V75M/S/T/A, and K70R mutations (Fig. 2). The ORs for each of these mutations remained significant following adjustment for the number of TAMs. In patients who had undergone previous resistance tests, T215F and K70R were present before the emergence of L74I/V in 88% and 100% of cases, respectively. Finally, the presence of the L100I mutation (n = 153) significantly reduced the L74I/L74V ratio, and none of the sequences harboring the F77L (n = 55) or the F116Y (n = 50) mutation carried a concomitant L74I or V change.
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TABLE 1. ORs and P values for an increase in the L74I/L74V ratio in univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression tests according to the presence or absence of the reverse transcriptase inhibitor mutation
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FIG. 1. Proportion of RT sequences carrying L74V or L74I mutations according to the number of TAMs and increase in 74I/74V ratio (OR of 1.60 per TAM carried with a range 1.41 to 1.81; P < 0.0001).
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FIG. 2. Proportion of RT sequences carrying L74V or L74I mutations according to the presence of mutations statistically linked to a high risk for an increase in the 74I/74V ratio.
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TABLE 2. Crude and adjusted ORs for the risk of L74I and L74V selection according to the presence of each compound in the treatment history
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The T215F and K70R mutations were the most strongly linked to a high risk of L74I selection. Both of these mutations are specific to TAM profile #2 (8). Multivariate analysis showed that the number of TAMs also had a significant effect on the likelihood of L74I selection independently of the TAM profile. This is why L74I was found together with many #1 profiles. As T215Y/F and K70R were detected before L74I or V in most cases, the resistance mechanism and replication constraints created by the number or profile of TAMs already present may affect the likelihood of selection of the 74I or 74V mutation. As it has already been suggested that L74V has an effect on the primer-unblocking activity conferred by TAMs, it is not surprising that the amino acids resulting from these mutations interact (2, 11). Interestingly, Miranda et al. showed that the negative effect of L74V on primer unblocking was blunted by the presence of a larger number of TAMs (11). Thus, L74I selection may be a better compromise for the virus in this context. Therefore, studies of biochemical interactions between TAMs and L74V should be repeated with the L74I mutation. The proximity of codons 74, 75, and 70 may account for interactions between these codons. Finally, simultaneous changes at codons 74 and 75 were also reported by Kleim et al. (6).
In multivariate analysis, the use of ABC or ddI was associated with the presence of L74V in RT sequences. These findings are consistent with published data, but interestingly, the presence of L74I was linked to treatment with slightly different compounds: ABC and EFZ. Kleim et al. also reported a possible association between L74I and NNRTI (6). In our study, the small number of patients naive for ddI may decrease the statistical power for analysis of the effects of this NRTI. The impact of this compound should therefore be studied in patients with a less extensive pretreatment histories. Despite these data, the impact of the L74I mutation on the antiretroviral activity of ABC and EFZ requires further clarifications in in vitro and in vivo studies. However, the low sensitivity of phenotypic testing, particularly in such a strong TAM context, and the large number of patients required for significant results to be obtained in clinical trials will probably make such studies difficult (4, 12).
Overall, this study shows that the baseline mutations present and the number of such mutations may affect the emergence of subsequent mutations. In addition to resistance effects, replicative capacity may favor the selection of one amino acid residue rather than another. Thus, for some compounds, such as abacavir, selection pressure seems to result in the selection of L74I as the best compromise between resistance and replication capacity effects in profile #2 or in a background containing a large number of TAMs.
This study shows that the L74I mutation is linked to antiretroviral treatment and independent of the L74V substitution. However, further studies are required to determine the real impact of this mutation on the antiretroviral activity of compounds such as abacavir or efavirenz. Analysis of this mutation should therefore be systematically included in all clinical trial analyses to clarify its impact on antiretroviral therapies. Similarly, further analyses are also required to determine the biochemical mechanisms favoring the selection of L74I rather than L74V in a TAM profile #2 background or in patients with a large number of TAMs.
(Part of this study was presented at the 13th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, Denver, 2006, and at the 15th International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop, Sitges, Spain, 2006)
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