Use of Proviral DNA to Investigate Virus Resistance Mutations in HIV-infected Zimbabweans.

Background: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) to suppress HIV replication has reduced morbidity and mortality yet effectiveness of current HIV drugs is threatened by HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) mutations.

Objective: To determine HIVDR mutations using proviral DNA from specimens of patients presenting to an HIV treatment clinic.

Methods: DNA from 103 patients, 86 treatment-experienced, 17 treatment-naïve, were genotyped for the HIV-1C reverse transcriptase gene (RT; codons 21-304) using Sanger sequencing and sequences analyzed using Sequencher software.

Effects of CYP2B6 and CYP1A2 Genetic Variation on Nevirapine Plasma Concentration and Pharmacodynamics as Measured by CD4 Cell Count in Zimbabwean HIV-Infected Patients.

The extremely high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and limitations of current antiretroviral medicines demand new tools to optimize therapy such as pharmacogenomics for person-to-person variations. African populations exhibit greater genetic diversity than other world populations, thus making it difficult to extrapolate findings from one population to another. Nevirapine, an antiretroviral medicine, displays large plasma concentration variability which adversely impacts therapeutic virological response.