DBCollHIV: a database system for collaborative HIV analysis in Brazil.

We developed a database system for collaborative HIV analysis (DBCollHIV) in Brazil. The main purpose of our DBCollHIV project was to develop an HIV-integrated database system with analytical bioinformatics tools that would support the needs of Brazilian research groups for data storage and sequence analysis. Whenever authorized by the principal investigator, this system also allows the integration of data from different studies and/or the release of the data to the general public. The development of a database that combines sequences associated with clinical/epidemiological data is difficult without the active support of interdisciplinary investigators. A functional database that securely stores data and helps the investigator to manipulate their sequences before publication would be an attractive tool for investigators depositing their data and collaborating with other groups. DBCollHIV allows investigators to manipulate their own datasets, as well as integrating molecular and clinical HIV data, in an innovative fashion.

Prevalence of mutations related to HIV-1 antiretroviral resistance in Brazilian patients failing HAART.

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines for antiretroviral (ARV) therapy recommend at least triple-drug combination, the so-called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Not all patients respond to HAART and the development of drug resistance remains one of the most serious obstacles to sustained suppression of HIV. OBJECTIVE: In an attempt to correlate the HIV therapeutic failure with reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease resistance mutations, we describe the ARV resistance profile in patients failing HAART in Brazil. We studied 267 Brazilian HIV-1 infected patients failing HAART looking for mutations in RT and protease genes. The mutation profile of the viruses infecting these individuals were deduced and correlated to laboratorial parameters. STUDY DESIGN: Two different HIV-1 genomic regions were targeted for PCR amplification, the protease (pro) and pol RT (palm finger region) genes. The mutations related to drug resistance in RT gene was analyzed using a line probe assay (LIPA(R)) and pro amino acids positions 82 and 90 were screened through RFLP using HincII restriction digestion. RESULTS: There was strong correlation between the mutation in the pro and RT genes and therapeutic failure. The main mutation found in RT gene was the M184V (48%) followed by T69D/N (47%), T215Y/F (46%), M41L (39%), and L74V (7%). In the pro gene the main mutation found was L90M (26%) followed by dual substitution in L90M and V82A (6%). All mutations profiles matched very well with the patients drug regimen. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that 84.7% of HIV infected subjects failing HAART for more than 3 months presented viral genomic mutations associated with drug resistance.