( Yale University researchers say that th...)Scientists Identify Previously Undetected Drug-resistant Forms of HIV,Health

Yale University researchers say that they have identified the rare and previously undetectable drug-resistant forms of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Dr. Michael Kozal, Associate Professor at the Yale School of Medicine, says that an innovative genome sequencing technology that quickly detects rare viral mutations was used during the study.

We found that the fraction of HIV patients that harboured resistance mutations is at least twice as high as previously thought, said Dr. Kozal, who also directs the HIV Program at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.

These low frequency resistant viral strains are not detectable by current resistance testing methods used in the clinic, he added.

Dr. Kozal said that the study aimed at determining whether patients who failed therapy early were initially infected with drug resistant HIV strains.

Presented at the 16th International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop in Barbados, the study used samples from 258 subjects of the FIRST study, a large multi-center five-year U.S. trial comparing three different approaches to antiretroviral therapy.

It evaluated the long-term clinical and virologic effects of three initial antiretroviral drug regimens for treatment-nave HIV infected persons.

The researchers used the Genome Sequencer system and Ultra Deep Sequencing technology, developed by 454 Life Sciences, to detect additional low abundant resistant variants and to predict the failure of antiretroviral therapy.

454 Sequencing can instantly generate hundreds of thousands of long clonal sequence reads that accurately enable the sensitive detection of rare mutations, said Michael Egholm, vice president of research and development at 454 Life Sciences, a member of the Roche group.

Ultra Deep Sequencing provides an essential tool for research on viral diseases and their treatments. The ability to use 454 Sequencing to
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