Multiple herpes simplex virus infections with various resistance patterns in a matched unrelated donor transplant recipient. (25/2958)

A 45-year-old matched unrelated BMT recipient had sequential mucocutaneous herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 infections. Five months after BMT, a penile lesion occurred and was cured using acyclovir, as expected from in vitro susceptibility results. The same lesion recurred 1 month later but worsened with acyclovir. The HSV isolate was resistant to acyclovir (IC(50) = 105 microM), and a nucleotide (G) was added to the thymidine kinase gene leading to a premature stop codon. The lesion improved markedly with foscarnet. During this treatment a second HSV infection occurred on the buttocks 2 weeks after the first one and healed completely with acyclovir. This course correlated with in vitro results of the buttock HSV isolate which was foscarnet-resistant (IC(50) = 300 microg/ml) and acyclovir-sensitive. Surprisingly, no mutation gene of the foscarnet-resistant isolate was detected in the DNA polymerase gene. This case shows that an HSV acyclovir-resistant infection may be followed by an acyclovir-sensitive one. Determination of antiviral susceptibility is needed to monitor the treatment of various HSV infections in immunocompromised BMT recipients.  (+info)

Cooperation between the hemagglutinin of avian viruses and the matrix protein of human influenza A viruses. (26/2958)

To analyze the compatibility of avian influenza A virus hemagglutinins (HAs) and human influenza A virus matrix (M) proteins M1 and M2, we doubly infected Madin-Darby canine kidney cells with amantadine (1-aminoadamantane hydrochloride)-resistant human viruses and amantadine-sensitive avian strains. By using antisera against the human virus HAs and amantadine, we selected reassortants containing the human virus M gene and the avian virus HA gene. In our system, high virus yields and large, well-defined plaques indicated that the avian HAs and the human M gene products could cooperate effectively; low virus yields and small, turbid plaques indicated that cooperation was poor. The M gene products are among the primary components that determine the species specificities of influenza A viruses. Therefore, our system also indicated whether the avian HA genes effectively reassorted into the genome and replaced the HA gene of the prevailing human influenza A viruses. Most of the avian HAs that we tested efficiently cooperated with the M gene products of the early human A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) virus; however, the avian HAs did not effectively cooperate with the most recently isolated human virus that we tested, A/Nanchang/933/95 (H3N2). Cooperation between the avian HAs and the M proteins of the human A/Singapore/57 (H2N2) virus was moderate. These results suggest that the currently prevailing human influenza A viruses might have lost their ability to undergo antigenic shift and therefore are unable to form new pandemic viruses that contain an avian HA, a finding that is of great interest for pandemic planning.  (+info)

Development of drug-resistant herpes simplex virus infection after haploidentical hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation. (27/2958)

An unusually high incidence of acyclovir- and foscarnet-resistant herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection was noted after lymphocyte-depleted blood hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPC) transplantation from HLA-haploidentical family donors. Fourteen adults with hematologic malignancies underwent blood HPC transplantation from haploidentical family donors. Pheresis products were stringently depleted of T and B cells by immunomagnetic adsorption, and patients received no immunosuppression after transplantation. HSV reactivation occurred in all 7 evaluable HSV-1- or HSV-2-seropositive patients, at a median of 40 days after transplantation. Susceptibility testing of clinically resistant viral isolates demonstrated acyclovir resistance in all 5 cases tested. Second-line therapy produced only partial responses, and in vitro evidence of foscarnet resistance developed rapidly in all 3 patients treated with foscarnet. Healing of lesions coincided with T-cell recovery. The prolonged immunodeficiency associated with stringent lymphocyte depletion of the graft appears to strongly predispose to emergence of drug-resistant HSV. Furthermore, immune reconstitution is necessary for eradication of infection.  (+info)

Cytomegalovirus UL97 phosphotransferase mutations that affect susceptibility to ganciclovir. (28/2958)

Most ganciclovir (GCV)-resistant cytomegalovirus (CMV) isolates contain UL97 gene mutations at codon 460 or 520 or between codons 590 and 607, where an increasing variety of mutations have been detected, including deletions. To determine their phenotypic effect, 9 UL97 mutations not previously studied were transferred to drug-sensitive laboratory CMV strains that contained unique restriction sites developed for this purpose. Deletion of the entire codon range 591-607 conferred a 6-fold increase in GCV resistance, with little effect on viral replication. Some mutations found in clinical isolates, including C592G and A594T, conferred only 2-3-fold decreases in GCV susceptibility. For C592G, this phenotype was confirmed by transfer to different CMV strains and by restoration of full drug susceptibility after removal of the mutation. Low drug levels resulting from oral GCV therapy may predispose the virus to the initial selection of these low-grade UL97 resistance mutations and to later accumulation of other mutations and greater resistance.  (+info)

CD4+ T cell kinetics and activation in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients who remain viremic despite long-term treatment with protease inhibitor-based therapy. (29/2958)

T cell dynamics were studied in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients who continued using antiretroviral therapy despite detectable plasma viremia (RNA copies >2500 /mL). CD4(+) cell fractional replacement rates, measured by the deuterated glucose technique, were lower in treated patients with detectable viremia than in untreated patients and were similar to those in patients with undetectable viremia. Cell cycle and activation markers exhibited similar trends. For any level of viremia, CD4(+) cell fractional replacement rates were lower in patients with drug-resistant virus than in patients with wild-type virus, which suggests that the resistant variant was less virulent. Interruption of treatment in patients with drug-resistant viremia resulted in increased CD4(+) cell activation, increased CD4(+) cell turnover, and decreased CD4(+) cell counts. These data indicate that partial virus suppression reduces CD4(+) cell turnover and activation, thereby resulting in sustained CD4(+) cell gains, and that measurements of T cell dynamics may provide an in vivo marker of viral virulence.  (+info)

Discordance between genotypic and phenotypic drug resistance profiles in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 strains isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. (30/2958)

The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between genotypic and phenotypic drug resistance profiles of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains isolated from patients during double-analogue nucleoside therapy. A drug-resistant HIV strain was isolated from 20 out of 25 patients, with 16 (64%) subjects carrying a virus with multiple drug resistance mutations. The most frequent resistance mutations were M184V (18 isolates) and M41L (7 isolates). Discordance between the genotypic and phenotypic profile for at least one drug was detected in 16 out of 25 strains. Particularly, eight isolates had a discordant genotypic-phenotypic resistance pattern for two drugs and one isolate had such a pattern for three drugs. A genotypic resistance pattern with a phenotypic sensitivity profile was detected in six isolates (four resistant to zidovudine and two resistant to lamivudine). On the other hand for several strains a genotypic pattern of sensitivity pattern to abacavir (10 strains), didanosine (7 strains), stavudine (3 strains), zidovudine (2 strains), and lamivudine (1 strain) with a phenotypic resistance profile was detected. After a follow-up period of 8 months, an impairment of virological and immunological parameters was detected only in subjects with an HIV-1 isolate with a phenotypic resistance profile in despite of the genotypic results. Predicting resistance phenotype from genotypic data has important limitations. Despite the low number of patients and the short follow-up period, this study suggests that during failing therapy with analogue nucleosides, a phenotypic analysis could be performed in spite of an HIV genotypic sensitivity pattern.  (+info)

Construction of a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) library containing random combinations of amino acid substitutions in the HIV-1 protease due to resistance by protease inhibitors. (31/2958)

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) heterogeneity contributes to the emergence of drug-resistant virus, escape from host defense systems, and/or conversion of the cellular tropism. To establish an in vitro system to address a heterogeneous virus population, we constructed a library of HIV-1 molecular clones containing a set of random combinations of zero to 11 amino acid substitutions associated with resistance to protease inhibitors by the HIV-1 protease. The complexity (2.1 x 10(5)) of the HIV-1 library pNG-PRL was large enough to cover all of the possible combinations of zero to 11 amino acid substitutions (a total of 4,096 substitutions possible). The T-cell line MT-2 was infected with the HIV-1 library, and resistant viruses were selected after treatment by the protease inhibitor ritonavir (0.03 to 0.30 microM). The viruses that contained three to eight amino acid substitutions could be selected within 2 weeks. These results demonstrate that this HIV-1 library could serve as an alternative in vitro system to analyze the emergence of drug resistance and to evaluate the antiviral activity of novel compounds against multidrug-resistant viruses.  (+info)

T69D/N pol mutation, human immunodeficiency virus type 1 RNA levels, and syncytium-inducing phenotype are associated with CD4 cell depletion during didanosine therapy. (32/2958)

The contribution of virologic and host factors to CD4 cell depletion associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 was evaluated in children drawn from a larger efficacy trial of 2 doses of didanosine (ddI) monotherapy (Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group 144). Thirty children, half with stable CD4 cell counts (non-progressors) and half with a marked decline in CD4 cells (progressors), were studied during 60-72 weeks of ddI therapy. The children were matched for age and CD4 cell counts at study entry. Three viral parameters, syncytium-inducing phenotype, higher virus load, and mutation in HIV-1 pol encoding the T69D/N mutation, were associated with disease progression. Disease progression was not associated with mutations in the reverse-transcriptase gene previously associated with resistance to ddI (L74V, K65R, or M184V). The selection of the T69D/N mutation in children with HIV-1 disease progression during ddI therapy suggests that this mutation confers a fitness advantage to the virus that may include resistance to ddI.  (+info)