Immuno-virological and Clinical Follow-up of Persons Living With HIV-2 (PWHIV-2) Receiving Bictegravir/Emtricitabine/Tenofovir Alafenamide Fumarate (BIC/FTC/TAF): A Retrospective Study.

This retrospective study evaluated Bictegravir/FTC/TAF in 24 PWHIV, 5 naive and 19 pretreated. After a median follow-up of 37.5 months, all PWHIV-2 had a plasma viral load < 40 copies/mL. Median CD4 count increased significantly from 580 to 625 cells/mm3, suggesting the effectiveness of Bictegravir/FTC/TAF to treat HIV-2 infection.

Salvage Therapy Including Foscarnet and Ibalizumab for Multidrug-Resistant Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 Infection.

We evaluated Ibalizumab (IBA)-containing standardized optimized salvage regimen (with or without a 4-week foscarnet induction) in individuals harboring multidrug-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2). Nine were included; 2 achieved virological suppression after foscarnet induction with a sustained suppression at Week 24 after IBA initiation, and an additional individual at Week 24 after Ibalizumab initiation.

Striking differences in weight gain after cART initiation depending on early or advanced presentation: results from the ANRS CO4 FHDH cohort.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have reported weight gain in ART-naive people living with HIV (PWH) initiating an integrase strand-transfer inhibitor-based regimen. We studied the impact of early or advanced presentation and that of individual drugs in PWH initiating combined ART (cART) between 2012 and 2018. METHODS: From the French Hospital Database HIV cohort, we assessed factors associated with a weight gain  ≥10%, weight change after cART initiation or BMI increase  ≥5 kg/m2 up to 30 months. The analyses were conducted overall, and among PWH with early (primary infection or CD4 >350/mm3 and viral load  <100 000 copies/mL, without AIDS) and advanced presentation (AIDS or CD4 <200/mm3, not during primary infection). RESULTS: At 30 months, 34.5% (95% CI: 33.5-35.6) of the 12 773 PWH had a weight gain ≥10%, with 20.9% (95% CI: 19.6-22.2) among the 5794 with early presentation and 63.1% (95% CI: 60.9-65.3) among the 3106 with advanced presentation. Weight gain was 2.8 kg (95% CI: 2.0-3.7) for those with early presentation and 9.7 kg (95% CI: 8.4-11.1) for those with advanced presentation. Most weight gain occurred in the first 12 months. Underweight and obese PWH were at significantly higher risk of a BMI increase  ≥5 kg/m2 than normal-weight PWH. Results differed within classes and by outcome. Raltegravir and dolutegravir were consistently associated with greater weight gain than the other third agents. Tenofovir alafenamide was also associated with higher weight gain than tenofovir disoproxil or abacavir. CONCLUSIONS: After initiating cART, PWH with early presentation exhibited a small weight gain, whereas it was large among those with advanced presentation. The choice of ART should account for the risk of weight gain, especially for PWH who present with advanced disease and/or are obese.

In vitro analysis of the replicative capacity and phenotypic susceptibility to integrase inhibitors of HIV-2 mutants with integrase insertions.

BACKGROUND: HIV-2 resistance to integrase strand-transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) is characterized by two main pathways: (i) mutations at codons 143, 148 and155; and (ii) amino acid insertion after integrase codon 231 (231ins). OBJECTIVES: To complete INSTI resistance data on HIV-2 by determining the viral replicative capacity and INSTI phenotypic susceptibility of integrase mutants obtained through site-directed mutagenesis. METHODS: Site-directed mutants (SDMs) were constructed and viral stocks produced. Viral replicative capacity was assessed by measuring HIV-2 viral load at days 3, 7 and 14. In vitro phenotypic susceptibility was measured using the ANRS PBMC assay. RESULTS: Viruses bearing 231ins did not present impaired replicative capacity, except the 231ins GIRGK mutant. A 231ins GK SDM was resistant to raltegravir and cabotegravir, but remained susceptible to dolutegravir and bictegravir. SDMs harbouring a 5 amino acid insertion (GYKGK or SREGK) were both resistant to all INSTIs. The SDM with T97A+N155H, with or without E92Q, was resistant to all INSTIs, except bictegravir. CONCLUSIONS: These first data on the newly described resistance pathway 231ins, using site-directed mutagenesis, showed no measurable impact on viral fitness and confirmed the decreased susceptibility to a first-generation INSTI (raltegravir) and cabotegravir. Resistance to second-generation INSTIs (dolutegravir and bictegravir) occurred for mutants with a 5 amino acid 231ins.

Genetic Variability of Long Terminal Repeat Region between HIV-2 Groups Impacts Transcriptional Activity.

The HIV-2 long terminal repeat (LTR) region contains several transcription factor (TF) binding sites. Efficient LTR transactivation by cellular TF and viral proteins is crucial for HIV-2 reactivation and viral production. Proviral LTRs from 66 antiretroviral-naive HIV-2-infected patients included in the French ANRS HIV-2 CO5 Cohort were sequenced. High genetic variability within the HIV-2 LTR was observed, notably in the U3 subregion, the subregion encompassing most known TF binding sites. Genetic variability was significantly higher in HIV-2 group B than in group A viruses. Notably, all group B viruses lacked the peri-ETS binding site, and 4 group B sequences (11%) also presented a complete deletion of the first Sp1 binding site. The lack of a peri-ETS binding site was responsible for lower transcriptional activity in activated T lymphocytes, while deletion of the first Sp1 binding site lowered basal or Tat-mediated transcriptional activities, depending on the cell line. Interestingly, the HIV-2 cellular reservoir was less frequently quantifiable in patients infected by group B viruses and, when quantifiable, the reservoirs were significantly smaller than in patients infected by group A viruses. Our findings suggest that mutations observed in vivo in HIV-2 LTR sequences are associated with differences in transcriptional activity and may explain the small cellular reservoirs in patients infected by HIV-2 group B, providing new insight into the reduced pathogenicity of HIV-2 infection.IMPORTANCE Over 1 million patients are infected with HIV-2, which is often described as an attenuated retroviral infection. Patients frequently have undetectable viremia and evolve at more slowly toward AIDS than HIV-1-infected patients. Several studies have reported a smaller viral reservoir in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in HIV-2-infected patients than in HIV-1-infected patients, while others have found similar sizes of reservoirs but a reduced amount of cell-associated RNA, suggesting a block in HIV-2 transcription. Recent studies have found associations between mutations within the HIV-1 LTR and reduced transcriptional activities. Until now, mutations within the HIV-2 LTR region have scarcely been studied. We conducted this research to discover if such mutations exist in the HIV-2 LTR and their potential association with the viral reservoir and transcriptional activity. Our study indicates that transcription of HIV-2 group B proviruses may be impaired, which might explain the small viral reservoir observed in patients.

Limited HIV-2 reservoirs in central-memory CD4 T-cells associated to CXCR6 co-receptor expression in attenuated HIV-2 infection.

The low pathogenicity and replicative potential of HIV-2 are still poorly understood. We investigated whether HIV-2 reservoirs might follow the peculiar distribution reported in models of attenuated HIV-1/SIV infections, i.e. limited infection of central-memory CD4 T lymphocytes (TCM). Antiretroviral-naive HIV-2 infected individuals from the ANRS-CO5 (12 non-progressors, 2 progressors) were prospectively included. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were sorted into monocytes and resting CD4 T-cell subsets (naive [TN], central- [TCM], transitional- [TTM] and effector-memory [TEM]). Reactivation of HIV-2 was tested in 30-day cultures of CD8-depleted PBMCs. HIV-2 DNA was quantified by real-time PCR. Cell surface markers, co-receptors and restriction factors were analyzed by flow-cytometry and multiplex transcriptomic study. HIV-2 DNA was undetectable in monocytes from all individuals and was quantifiable in TTM from 4 individuals (median: 2.25 log10 copies/106 cells [IQR: 1.99-2.94]) but in TCM from only 1 individual (1.75 log10 copies/106 cells). HIV-2 DNA levels in PBMCs (median: 1.94 log10 copies/106 PBMC [IQR = 1.53-2.13]) positively correlated with those in TTM (r = 0.66, p = 0.01) but not TCM. HIV-2 reactivation was observed in the cells from only 3 individuals. The CCR5 co-receptor was distributed similarly in cell populations from individuals and donors. TCM had a lower expression of CXCR6 transcripts (p = 0.002) than TTM confirmed by FACS analysis, and a higher expression of TRIM5 transcripts (p = 0.004). Thus the low HIV-2 reservoirs differ from HIV-1 reservoirs by the lack of monocytic infection and a limited infection of TCM associated to a lower expression of a potential alternative HIV-2 co-receptor, CXCR6 and a higher expression of a restriction factor, TRIM5. These findings shed new light on the low pathogenicity of HIV-2 infection suggesting mechanisms close to those reported in other models of attenuated HIV/SIV infection models.

A governmental program to encourage medical students to deliver primary prevention: experiment and evaluation in a French faculty of medicine.

BACKGROUND: A public health student service was set up by the French government in 2018 with the aim of increasing awareness of primary health promotion among the 47,000 students of medicine and other health professions. It is an annual program involving community-based actions on nutrition, physical activity, addiction or sexuality. Our objective was to evaluate its implementation at local level and the different experiences of the stakeholders. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study using process evaluation was performed in a Faculty of Medicine in Paris. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from medical students who carried out preventive health actions, in the institutions in which the actions took place and from a subsample of beneficiaries. RESULTS: One hundred and eight actions were carried out by 341 students in 23 educational or social institutions, mostly high schools (n = 12, 52%). Two thirds of the students did not feel sufficiently prepared to deliver preventive health interventions (65.7%, 224/341); however the beneficiaries found that the interventions were good (278/280, 99,2%). Nineteen (83%) of the host institutions agreed to welcome health service students again, of which 9 required some modifications. For students, the reporting of a satisfactory health service experience was associated with the reporting of skills or knowledge acquisition (p < 0.01). Delivering actions in high schools and to a medium-sized number of beneficiaries per week was associated with students' satisfaction. No effect of gender or theme of prevention was observed. For 248/341 (72.7%) students, the public health service program prompts them to address prevention issues in the future. CONCLUSION: The public health service undertaken by medical students through the program is a feasible and acceptable means of delivering preventive actions. Reinforcement of training and closer interaction with the host institutions would improve results.

Imported loiasis in France: a retrospective analysis of 167 cases with comparison between sub-Saharan and non sub-Saharan African patients.

BACKGROUND: Imported loiasis is a rare cause of consultation at the return of stay in central Africa, which often poses difficult diagnostic and therapeutic questions to practitioners especially those who are unaccustomed to tropical medicine. These difficulties can lead to risks for the patients especially if inappropriate treatment is given. Large series of imported loiasis are scarce. METHODS: We retrospectively studied the data including outcome in patients diagnosed with imported loiasis between 1993 and 2013 in the Paris area on the basis of a parasitological diagnosis (microfilaremia > 1/ml and/or serologic tests). We compared sub-Saharan and non sub-Saharan African patients. RESULTS: Of the 177 identified cases, 167 could be analysed. Sex ratio was 1, mean age 41 years and 83% were sub-Saharan Africans. Cameroon was the main country of exposure (62%). Incubation time may be long (up to 18 months). Of the 167 cases, 57% presented with characteristic symptoms (Calabar swellings, creeping dermatitis, eyeworm) whereas 43% were diagnosed fortuitously. Microfilaremia was evidenced in 105 patients (63%), and specific antibodies in 53%. Compared to sub-Saharan Africans, other patients were presenting less frequently with eyeworm migration and microfilaremia whereas they had higher eosinophilia and positive serology. Prevalence of Calabar swellings was not significantly different between the two groups. Cure rates were 52% with ivermectin alone, and 77% with ivermectin followed by diethylcarbamazine. No severe adverse event was reported. CONCLUSIONS: Presentation of imported loiasis varies according to ethnicity. A systematic screening should be recommended in patients with potential exposure in endemic country. Treatment with ivermectin followed by diethylcarbamazine could be a valuable option.

A New Mechanism of Resistance of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 to Integrase Inhibitors: A 5-Amino-Acid Insertion in the Integrase C-Terminal Domain.

BACKGROUND: Integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) are crucial for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 2 infection, due to limited available therapeutic options. Recently, bictegravir has been approved for HIV-1, but no data are currently available for HIV-2. METHODS: We assessed the phenotypic susceptibility of 12 HIV-2 clinical isolates, obtained from 2 antiretroviral-naive and 10 antiretroviral-experienced patients, to 5 INSTIs (bictegravir, cabotegravir, dolutegravir, elvitegravir, and raltegravir) at the virological failure of an INSTI-based regimen. The 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) were determined. Phenotypic inhibitory quotients were determined using trough INSTI plasma concentrations. RESULTS: Wild-type viruses were susceptible to the 5 INSTIs, with IC50s in the nanomolar range. Bictegravir had a lower IC50 than the other INSTIs on those HIV-2 isolates bearing major, resistance-associated mutations (codons 143, 148, and 155). We identified a new resistance profile-a 5-amino-acid insertion at codon 231 of the HIV-2 integrase (231INS)-in 6 patients at the virological failure of a raltegravir-based regimen. Those patients had adequate raltegravir concentrations, but harbored multiresistant viruses with low genotypic susceptibility scores (median = 1.5). This insertion rendered isolates highly resistant to raltegravir and elvitegravir, and moderately resistant to dolutegravir and cabotegravir. Regarding bictegravir, 2 isolates remained susceptible and 2 had a slight increase in IC50 (3- to 5-fold change). CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm the potency of INSTI on HIV-2 clinical isolates with wild-type integrase. In addition, we identified a new resistance pathway, 231INS, selected in antiretroviral-experienced patients with multiresistant HIV-2 viruses. This highlights the need of close follow-up of those patients initiating an INSTI-based regimen.

Practical generic guidelines for paediatric-to-adult transition for adolescents with chronic disease.

BACKGROUND: The last 20 years have seen many attempts to improve transition to adult healthcare for adolescents with chronic disease, but there is currently no established consensus on generic practices. Our goal was to identify relevant and pragmatic guidelines for transition practice for each step of this process (before, during and after transfer), applicable to a wide range of chronic illnesses and health services, via a participatory approach involving all the key stakeholders. METHODS: We conducted interviews and a literature review to elaborate a questionnaire for use in an online 2-round Delphi survey. The survey panel included 36 French health and social professionals from different care settings, and young adults and parents with an experience of healthcare transition related to all types of chronic disease. RESULTS: The survey consensus identified 19 items on feasibility and relevance criteria, which form the guidelines. It is composed of five practices to be adopted during preparation in paediatrics, seven practices in the active phase of transition and seven in adult care. Two guidelines achieved complete consensus: having a longer consultation for the first appointment with the adult doctor, and keeping the same adult doctor throughout follow-up. A further 36 items met the criterion of relevance, but were deemed unfeasible. CONCLUSIONS: Taking into account all stakeholder views and the real-world applicability of care practices enabled us to elaborate consensual guidelines whose implementation requires no additional health service resources.

First-line Raltegravir/Emtricitabine/Tenofovir Combination in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 (HIV-2) Infection: A Phase 2, Noncomparative Trial (ANRS 159 HIV-2).

Background: New options for first-line treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2) infection are needed. We evaluated an integrase inhibitor (raltegravir)-containing regimen. Methods: Antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive adults with symptomatic infection by HIV-2 only, CD4 count <500 cells/µL or CD4 decrease >50 cells/µL/year over the past 3 years, or a confirmed plasma HIV-2 RNA (pVL) load ≥100 copies/mL were eligible for this noncomparative trial. The composite primary endpoint was survival at 48 weeks without any of the following: CD4 gain from baseline <100 cells/µL, confirmed pVL ≥40 copies/mL from week 24, raltegravir permanent discontinuation, or incident B or C event. HIV-2 ultrasensitive pVL (uspVL) and total DNA were assessed using in-house polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Results: Baseline median CD4 count of 30 enrolled individuals (67% women) was 436 cells/µL (interquartile range [IQR], 314-507 cells/µL); pVL was ≥40 copies/mL in 67% of them, uspVL was ≥5 copies/mL in 92%, and total DNA was >6 copies by PCR in 32%. At week 48, the composite endpoint of success was reached in 40% [95% confidence interval, 22.7%-59.4%]. Failure was mainly (50%) due to CD4 gain <100 cells/µL; uspVL was <5 copies/mL in 87% and total DNA >6 copies by PCR in 12% of participants. Median CD4 gain was 87 cells/µL (IQR, 38-213 cells/µL; n = 28). No serious adverse reactions were reported. Conclusions: Raltegravir-containing ART is a safe option for first-line treatment of HIV-2 infection, yielding a comparable success rate to protease inhibitors. Clinical Trials Registration: NCT 01605890.

Minority resistant variants are also present in HIV-2-infected antiretroviral-naive patients.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of minority resistant variants (MRV) and X4-tropic minority variants in ART-naive HIV-2-infected patients. Patients and methods: ART-naive HIV-2-infected patients with detectable plasma viral load (>100 copies/mL) included in the ANRS HIV-2 CO5 Cohort were assessed. We performed ultra-deep sequencing (UDS) of protease, RT, integrase and gp105 regions. Only mutations in the HIV-2 ANRS list >1% were considered. HIV-2 tropism was assessed by V3 loop region UDS, and each read was interpreted with determinants of CXCR4-coreceptor use. Results: Among the 47 patients assessed, three displayed plasma viruses with a resistance-associated mutation (RAM) above the 20% detection threshold, all in RT, resulting in a prevalence of transmitted drug resistance for NRTI of 7.9% (95% CI 0.0%-16.5%). No RAM above the 20% detection threshold was found in protease or integrase. At the 1% detection threshold the transmitted drug resistance prevalence was 9.8% (95% CI 0.6%-19.0%), 13.2% (95% CI 3.5%-22.9%) and 4.5% (95% CI 0%-17.5%) for PI, NRTI and integrase inhibitors. The most prevalent MRV was the PI RAM I50V detected in three samples. Tropism analysis showed that 21% of patients (4 of 19) exhibited X4-tropic viruses: two in majority proportion and two in minority proportions (1.5% and 1.9%). Conclusions: In this first study assessing the prevalence of MRV in HIV-2 infection among ART-naive patients, we observed a 2-3-fold higher prevalence of RAM when a 1% detection threshold of mutations was used compared with a 20% threshold. Similarly, the proportion of patients with X4-tropic viruses was twice as high when UDS was used.

Preservation of Lymphopoietic Potential and Virus Suppressive Capacity by CD8+ T Cells in HIV-2-Infected Controllers.

Compared with HIV-1, HIV-2 infection is characterized by a larger proportion of slow or nonprogressors. A better understanding of HIV-2 pathogenesis should open new therapeutic avenues to establish control of HIV-1 replication in infected patients. In this study, we studied the production of CD8(+) T cells and their capacity for viral control in HIV-2 controllers from the French ANRS CO5 HIV-2 cohort. HIV-2 controllers display a robust capacity to support long-term renewal of the CD8(+) T cell compartment by preserving immune resources, including hematopoietic progenitors and thymic activity, which could contribute to the long-term maintenance of the CD8(+) T cell response and the avoidance of premature immune aging. Our data support the presence of HIV-2 Gag-specific CD8(+) T cells that display an early memory differentiation phenotype and robust effector potential in HIV-2 controllers. Accordingly, to our knowledge, we show for the first time that HIV-2 controllers possess CD8(+) T cells that show an unusually strong capacity to suppress HIV-2 infection in autologous CD4(+) T cells ex vivo, an ability that likely depends on the preservation of host immune resources. This effective and durable antiviral response probably participates in a virtuous circle, during which controlled viral replication permits the preservation of potent immune functions, thus preventing HIV-2 disease progression.

New Highly Sensitive Real-Time PCR Assay for HIV-2 Group A and Group B DNA Quantification.

HIV-2 infection is characterized by a very low replication rate in most cases and low progression. This necessitates an approach to patient monitoring that differs from that for HIV-1 infection. Here, a new highly specific and sensitive method for HIV-2 DNA quantification was developed. The new test is based on quantitative real-time PCR targeting the long terminal repeat (LTR) and gag regions and using an internal control. Analytical performance was determined in three laboratories, and clinical performance was determined on blood samples from 63 patients infected with HIV-2 group A (n = 35) or group B (n = 28). The specificity was 100%. The 95% limit of detection was three copies/PCR and the limit of quantification was six copies/PCR. The within-run coefficients of variation were between 1.03% at 3.78 log10 copies/PCR and 27.02% at 0.78 log10 copies/PCR. The between-run coefficient of variation was 5.10%. Both manual and automated nucleic acid extraction methods were validated. HIV-2 DNA loads were detectable in blood cells from all 63 patients. When HIV-2 DNA was quantifiable, median loads were significantly higher in antiretroviral-treated than in naive patients and were similar for groups A and B. HIV-2 DNA load was correlated with HIV-2 RNA load (r = 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4 to 0.8; P < 0.0001). Our data show that this new assay is highly sensitive and quantifies the two main HIV-2 groups, making it useful for the diagnosis of HIV-2 infection and for pathogenesis studies on HIV-2 reservoirs.

Switch as maintenance to elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate: week 48 results in a clinical cohort.

Objectives: To assess, in a clinical cohort, the efficacy of switching current ART in virologically suppressed patients to elvitegravir/cobicistat/emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate as a single-tablet regimen (STR) using the PCR signal of the plasma viral load (pVL) assay and determination of plasma drug concentration ( C 24 ). Patients and methods: This was an observational single-centre study enrolling antiretroviral-treated patients with pVL <50 copies/mL initiating elvitegravir-based STR. PCRneg was defined as an undetected PCR signal. Results: One hundred and fifty-one patients were enrolled. At STR baseline, the median time since first ART and time of virological suppression were 5 years (IQR 3-9) and 24 months (IQR 9-44), respectively. By week (W) 48, 26 (17%) of the patients had discontinued STR due to adverse events. The proportion of patients maintaining pVL <50 copies/mL on treatment was 98%, 96%, 93% and 97% at W12, W24, W36 and W48, respectively. Five patients (3.3%) experienced a virological failure and emergence of resistance was observed in two of them with the selection of M184V and N155H mutations. At baseline, W12, W24, W36 and W48, 70%, 57%, 72%, 61% and 74% of the patients with pVL <20 copies/mL had a PCRneg, respectively. The median elvitegravir plasma C 24 value was 648 ng/mL (IQR 348-989; n = 237), with 84% of elvitegravir C 24 values >45 ng/mL, the protein-adjusted IC 95 . Conclusions: In this clinical cohort of virologically suppressed patients switching to STR, most subjects had adequate elvitegravir C 24 values with a high proportion maintaining virological suppression with no residual viraemia until W48.

CD4 cell count response to first-line combination ART in HIV-2+ patients compared with HIV-1+ patients: a multinational, multicohort European study.

Background: CD4 cell recovery following first-line combination ART (cART) is poorer in HIV-2+ than in HIV-1+ patients. Only large comparisons may allow adjustments for demographic and pretreatment plasma viral load (pVL). Methods: ART-naive HIV+ adults from two European multicohort collaborations, COHERE (HIV-1 alone) and ACHIeV2e (HIV-2 alone), were included, if they started first-line cART (without NNRTIs or fusion inhibitors) between 1997 and 2011. Patients without at least one CD4 cell count before start of cART, without a pretreatment pVL and with missing a priori-defined covariables were excluded. Evolution of CD4 cell count was studied using adjusted linear mixed models. Results: We included 185 HIV-2+ and 30321 HIV-1+ patients with median age of 46 years (IQR 36-52) and 37 years (IQR 31-44), respectively. Median observed pretreatment CD4 cell counts/mm3 were 203 (95% CI 100-290) in HIV-2+ patients and 223 (95% CI 100-353) in HIV-1+ patients. Mean observed CD4 cell count changes from start of cART to 12 months were +105 (95% CI 77-134) in HIV-2+ patients and +202 (95% CI 199-205) in HIV-1+ patients, an observed difference of 97 cells/mm3 in 1 year. In adjusted analysis, the mean CD4 cell increase was overall 25 CD4 cells/mm3/year lower (95% CI 5-44; P = 0.0127) in HIV-2+ patients compared with HIV-1+ patients. Conclusions: A poorer CD4 cell increase during first-line cART was observed in HIV-2+ patients, even after adjusting for pretreatment pVL and other potential confounders. Our results underline the need to identify more potent therapeutic regimens or strategies against HIV-2.

Mutation V111I in HIV-2 reverse transcriptase increases the fitness of the nucleoside analogue-resistant K65R and Q151M viruses.

UNLABELLED: Infection with HIV-2 can ultimately lead to AIDS, although disease progression is much slower than with HIV-1. HIV-2 patients are mostly treated with a combination of nucleoside reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors (NRTIs) and protease inhibitors designed for HIV-1. Many studies have described the development of HIV-1 resistance to NRTIs and identified mutations in the polymerase domain of RT. Recent studies have shown that mutations in the connection and RNase H domains of HIV-1 RT may also contribute to resistance. However, only limited information exists regarding the resistance of HIV-2 to NRTIs. In this study, therefore, we analyzed the polymerase, connection, and RNase H domains of RT in HIV-2 patients failing NRTI-containing therapies. Besides the key resistance mutations K65R, Q151M, and M184V, we identified a novel mutation, V111I, in the polymerase domain. This mutation was significantly associated with mutations K65R and Q151M. Sequencing of the connection and RNase H domains of the HIV-2 patients did not reveal any of the mutations that were reported to contribute to NRTI resistance in HIV-1. We show that V111I does not strongly affect drug susceptibility but increases the replication capacity of the K65R and Q151M viruses. Biochemical assays demonstrate that V111I restores the polymerization defects of the K65R and Q151M viruses but negatively affects the fidelity of the HIV-2 RT enzyme. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to analyze the structural changes mediated by V111I. This showed that V111I changed the flexibility of the 110-to-115 loop region, which may affect deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) binding and polymerase activity. IMPORTANCE: Mutation V111I in the HIV-2 reverse transcriptase enzyme was identified in patients failing therapies containing nucleoside analogues. We show that the V111I change does not strongly affect the sensitivity of HIV-2 to nucleoside analogues but increases the fitness of viruses with drug resistance mutations K65R and Q151M.

Foscarnet, zidovudine and dolutegravir combination efficacy and tolerability for late stage HIV salvage therapy: A case-series experience.

Salvage therapy including foscarnet (PFA), zidovudine (ZDV) and an optimized background ART (OBT) has been shown to be effective in patients with advanced HIV infection, and no therapeutic options. Dolutegravir (DTG) may offer a more active combination. Objective was to describe efficacy and tolerability of PFA-ZDV-DTG containing regimen. In our cohort, we identified patients who: (i) had plasma HIV-1 RNA load (pVL) >50 c/ml (>100 for HIV-2) on combination ART (cART); (ii) had at least 1 PI/r, 1 NRTI, 1 NNRTI (for HIV-1), and at least 1 raltegravir resistance mutations; (iii) were naive to DTG; and (iv) initiated on a PFA-ZDV-DTG containing-regimen with 48 weeks (W48) of follow-up. Out of 5 patients, 2 were infected with HIV-2. At PFA-ZDV-DTG initiation, CD4 cell count was (/mm(3) ) of 64, 40, 10, in HIV-1, and 37, 199, in HIV-2 infected patients; and pVL (log10 c/ml) of 4.8, 5.1, 4.4, in HIV-1, and 3.6, 4.2, in HIV-2 infected patients, respectively. Median OBT genotypic sensitivity score was 1.5 [1-2]. PFA was discontinued in one patient, due to an acute renal failure. At W48, one HIV-1 infected patient had a pVL <50 c/ml and two <200 c/ml; the two HIV-2 infected patients had pVL >100 c/ml. No lack of treatment adherence was observed. In treatment experienced HIV-infected patients, failing cART and without other therapeutic options, a PFA-ZDV-DTG combination therapy could be effective. Renal adverse events should be monitored.