HIV Co-Receptor Tropism Usage: First Report from the Iranian Patients

Aim: The HIV-V3 sequence influences tropism via the interaction of HIV with CCR5 and CXCR4 coreceptors; however, no consistent sequence accounts for R5 or X4-virus. Methods: RT-nested PCR was performed to define V3-tropism in 123 samples using genotypic methods, including Geno2Pheno, WebPSSM, PhenoSeq, Net Charge and the 11/25 rule. Results: Among the samples studied, the HIV-1 R5 tropic viruses were predominant. However, X4 tropism could be a reason for the higher risk of treatment failure. A good accordance was observed between paired DNA/RNA tropism results. Conclusion: CCR5 inhibitors can be crucial in simplifying HIV treatment in Iranian patients. X4-virus is a risk factor for treatment failure. Proviral DNA (pvDNA) tropism result can be an appropriate target for V3-tropism determination.