Featured news from NHIVNA
HIV-related news from NAM
Sub-type C infection does not increase the risk of virologic failure when patients are taking tenofovir-containing first-line ART
Michael Carter, 2016-06-08 07:50:00
There is no evidence that HIV-positive patients with sub-type C infection have an increased risk of treatment failure when receiving tenofovir-containing regimens, investigators from the UK report in the online edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Investigators monitored over 8000 patients initiating standard first-line tenofovir-containing regimens and found that after adjustment for demographic and clinical factors, patients with sub-type C infection were no more likely to experience virologic failure than patients with sub-type B infection.
“These observations may imply there is no intrinsic effect of viral subtype on the efficacy of tenofovir-containing regimens, and specially alleviate concerns that efficacy would be compromised for subtype C infections,” write the authors. “This is a reassuring finding in light of the rapid worldwide expansion in the prescribing of tenofovir and supports WHO recommendations that this is an appropriate first-line drug, even in geographical regions where subtype C HIV-1 infection is endemic.”
Some research has shown that tenofovir-containing regimens have reduced efficacy in patients with sub-type C infection. It has been suggested that this is because sub-type C is especially likely to develop the K65R resistance mutation, which is selected by tenofovir. If this is the case, it could have serious public health implications. Approximately 50% of HIV-positive patients worldwide have sub-type C infection and since 2013 WHO guidelines have recommended tenofovir for first-line antiretroviral therapy.
With these concerns in mind, a team of investigators analysed evaluated whether HIV-1 sub-type influenced virologic outcomes in patients starting standard first-line HIV therapy containing tenofovir. The study population comprised 8746 patients enrolled in the UK Collaborative HIV Cohort Study (www.ukchic.org.uk).
Patients were eligible for inclusion if they initiated a first-line regimen that contained tenofovir, plus emtricitabine or lamivudine, with either a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI – efavirenz or nevirapine) or a ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor (lopinavir, atazanavir or darunavir).
Virologic failure was defined as two consecutive viral load measurements above 200 copies/ml in a six-month period after suppression of viral load. The investigators took into account other factors associated with treatment outcomes – type of therapy, HIV risk group, baseline CD4 and viral load – to see if sub-type really did influence the risk of virologic failure.
Sub-type was determined in 6149 patients. Approximately two-thirds (n = 4123) of patients were infected with sub-type B, 823 patients with sub-type C and 1203 were infected with non-B/C sub-types.
There were significant demographic differences according to sub-type. Patients infected with sub-type B were predominantly white (83%) and gay men (85%), whereas individuals with sub-type C infection were mainly black (70%) and heterosexual (79%).
Patients were followed for a median of 3.3 years. During this time, virologic failure was observed in 6% of patients with sub-type B infection, 10% of patients with sub-type C infection and 9.5% of patients with non-B/C sub-types.
This meant, that in unadjusted analysis, the rate of treatment failure was approximately two-fold higher in patients with sub-type C compared to those with sub-type B (B vs. C, HR = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.43-0.67; p < 0.001). Outcomes were comparable for patients with sub-type C and non-B/C sub-types.
However, after adjustment for demographic and clinical characteristics, the difference in outcomes between patients with sub-type B and sub-type C infections ceased to be significant (HR = 0.87; 95% CI, 0.63-1.21; p=0.41). Comparison between C and non-B/C sub-types was unchanged.
Examination of the reasons for the change between the unadjusted and adjusted models showed that the most important factors were HIV risk group (lower rate of virologic failure in gay men) and ethnicity (lower rate of virologic failure among white and Asian patients). Regimens based on NNRTIs were more durable than protease inhibitor-containing combinations. Virologic failure was more common in patients with a baseline CD4 count below 100 cells/mm3 and also in individuals with a baseline viral load above 100,000 copies/ml.
Genotypic resistance test results were available for 41% of those who experienced virological failure. Tenofovir-associated resistance mutations (mainly K65R) were more common in people with sub-type C virus than in those with sub-type B or nonB/C viruses (22.7% vs 6.1% and 8.1%; p=0.003).
“In the present study patients with HIV-1 subtype C infection on a first-line tenofovir-containing regimen experienced a higher rate of virological failure than patients with subtype B virus,” comment the investigators. “However, this effect was almost entirely explained by differences between groups in demographic and clinical characteristics.”
They suggest that adherence is a likely explanation for the differences in outcomes between risk groups.
The authors of an accompanying editorial were reassured by the findings of the study as they show that WHO treatment guidelines for the treatment of sub-type C infection do not need to change. However, they conclude, “it is of utmost importance to globally improve treatment conditions so that adherence problems and treatment failures can be identified early.”
Source:1
