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To the Editor—In an analysis of data from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study, Scherrer et al intriguingly reported significantly better virological outcomes in white patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) non-B subtypes compared with subtype B [1]. However, the authors pointed out the need for confirmatory analyses in other cohort studies. We previously published a similar analysis using merged data from the UK HIV Drug Resistance Database and UK Collaborative HIV Cohort studies but including all patients regardless of ethnicity [2]. We have modified and updated this analysis using the same methods employed in the Swiss study (analysis A) with 2 modifications: patients who received mono/dual nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) before initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (≥3 drugs from ≥2 classes) were excluded, as were patients with intermediate/high-level resistance to any drug in the initial regimen [3].

Overall, 3471 patients were included in the analysis, of whom 3213 were infected with subtype B virus and 258 with a non-B subtype. Of the non-B subtypes, 110 (43%) were subtype C, 45 (17%) subtype CRF_AE, 39 (15%) subtype A, 22 (9%) subtype CRF_AG, and 42 (16%) other non-B subtypes. The subtype B group was comprised mainly of homosexual men (93%), whereas exposure group in the non-B subtype group was more diverse (44% homosexual men, 27% heterosexual men, 22% heterosexual women). Mean CD4 count (236 cells/mm3) and viral load (4.88 log10 copies/mL) at baseline were similar in the 2 groups, as was the class of non-NRTI drug in the initial regimen (67% nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, 25% boosted protease inhibitor [PI], 4% unboosted PI).

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