Early infection accounts for approximately half of onward transmissions in this urban North American study. Therapy at early stages of disease may prevent onward HIV transmission.

; for the INCAS Study Group Context.-Current guidelines recommend that individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) be treated using combinations of antiretroviral agents to achieve sustained suppression of viral replication as measured by the plasma HIV-1 RNA assay, in the hopes of achieving prolonged remission of the disease. However, until recently, many drug combinations have not led to sustained suppression of HIV-1 RNA. Objective.-To compare the virologic effects of various combinations of nevirapine, didanosine, and zidovudine. Design.-Double-blind, controlled, randomized trial. Setting.-University-affiliated ambulatory research clinics in Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia (INCAS). Patients.-Antiretroviral therapy-naive adults free of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with CD4 cell counts between 0.20 and 0.60ϫ10 9 /L (200-600/µL). Intervention.-Patients received zidovudine plus nevirapine (plus didanosine placebo), zidovudine plus didanosine (plus nevirapine placebo), or zidovudine plus didanosine plus nevirapine. Main Outcome Measure.-Plasma HIV-1 RNA. Results.-Of the 153 enrolled patients, 151 were evaluable. At week 8, plasma HIV-1 RNA levels had decreased by log 2.18, 1.55, and 0.90 in the triple drug therapy, zidovudine plus didanosine, and zidovudine plus nevirapine groups, respectively (PϽ.05). The proportions of patients with plasma HIV-1 RNA levels below 20 copies per milliliter at week 52 were 51%, 12%, and 0% in the triple drug therapy, zidovudine plus didanosine, and zidovudine plus nevirapine groups, respectively (PϽ.001). Viral amplification was attempted in 59 patients at 6 months. Viral isolation was unsuccessful in 19 (79%) of 24, 10 (53%) of 19, and 5 (31%) of 16 patients in the triple drug therapy, zidovudine plus didanosine, and zidovudine plus nevirapine groups, respectively. Among patients from whom virus could be amplified, resistance to nevirapine was found in all 11 patients receiving zidovudine plus nevirapine and in all 5 patients receiving triple drug therapy. Rates of disease progression or death were 23% (11/47), 25% (13/53), and 12% (6/51) for the zidovudine plus nevirapine, zidovudine plus didanosine, and triple drug therapy groups, respectively (P=.08). Conclusions.-Triple drug therapy with zidovudine, didanosine, and nevirapine led to a substantially greater and sustained decrease in plasma viral load than the 2-drug regimens studied. Our results also suggest that suppression of viral replication, as demonstrated by a decrease in the plasma HIV-1 RNA load below the level of quantitation of the most sensitive test available, may at least forestall the development of resistance.

Integrase (IN) strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) have been developed to inhibit the ability of HIV-1 integrase to irreversibly link the reverse-transcribed viral DNA to the host genome. INSTIs have proven their high efficiency in inhibiting viral replication in vitro and in patients. However, first-generation INSTIs have only a modest genetic barrier to resistance, allowing the virus to escape these powerful drugs through several resistance pathways. Second-generation INSTIs, such as dolutegravir (DTG, S/GSK1349572), have been reported to have a higher resistance barrier, and no novel drug resistance mutation has yet been described for this drug. Therefore, we performed in vitro selection experiments with DTG using viruses of subtypes B, C, and A/G and showed that the most common mutation to emerge was R263K. Further analysis by site-directed mutagenesis showed that R263K does confer low-level resistance to DTG and decreased integration in cell culture without altering reverse transcription. Biochemical cell-free assays performed with purified IN enzyme containing R263K confirmed the absence of major resistance against DTG and showed a slight decrease in 3= processing and strand transfer activities compared to the wild type. Structural modeling suggested and in vitro IN-DNA binding assays show that the R263K mutation affects IN-DNA interactions.T he high mutation rate of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) allows the virus to escape pressure through adaptive mutations that include drug resistance mutations that limit the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs (5,31,66,69,70). The use of multiple drugs in combination can hamper this process by restraining viral replication, limiting the emergence of resistant strains. The addition of integrase inhibitors to the arsenal of drugs against HIV-1 is important since these inhibitors are active against viruses resistant to other drug classes (16,49,63).The HIV-1 integrase enzyme catalyzes two reactions. The first is 3= processing, which consists of cleavage of a dinucleotide at both 3= ends of the reverse-transcribed linear viral DNA and results in the exposure of reactive hydroxyl groups. The second step termed "strand transfer" is carried out through a nucleophilic attack by exposed 3= hydroxyl groups on host genomic DNA (26, 47). Even though 3= processing may be a suitable therapeutic target, the integrase inhibitors developed so far are integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) that preferentially inhibit strand transfer while only modestly affecting 3= processing (18,24,26). Raltegravir (RAL) was the first INSTI to be approved for therapy in 2007 (64) and is safe and efficient in both treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced subjects (11,17,23,35,49,62,63). Elvitegravir (EVG) is another INSTI currently in advanced clinical trials (10,12,77).Although first-generation INSTIs strongly inhibit HIV-1 replication, they possess only a modest genetic barrier to resistance. Three main resistance pathways have been identified for RAL, involving initial mutations of the N1...

ANRS (France Recherche Nord and Sud Sida-HIV Hépatites), the Canadian HIV Trials Network, Fonds Pierre Bergé-Sidaction, Gilead Sciences, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.