Effect of HIV co-infection on mutation patterns of HBV in patients with lamivudine-resistant chronic hepatitis B

A retrospective review was performed comparing lamivudine-resistance mutation patterns between patients infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) with or without human immunodefi-ciency virus (HIV) co-infection. Medical records that included a genotypic test of patients infected with HBV and treated with lamivudine as the only anti-HBV drug were reviewed. Pol gene mutations were assessed by direct sequencing of the reverse transcriptase fragment 125-213 aa. Eighty-nine patients infected with HBV (29 coinfected with HIV) with rtM204V or rtM204I mutations were included. Multiple mutations associated with the YMDD motif were observed in 33 (55%) of 60 patients infected with HBV only and in 28 (96.6%) of patients co-infected with HIV/HBV. In this latter group, the prevalence of the rtV173L + rtL 180M + rtM204V triple mutation was 31% versus a prevalence of 3.4% observedamong patients infected withHBV only. All patients with the triple mutational pattern showed sE164D + sI195M changes in the envelope gene. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that HIV co-infection (adjusted OR 11.2, 95% CI 2.0-61.0) and HBV genotype A (adjusted OR 7.2, 95% CI 1.5-34.8) were the only independent variables associated with the chance of harboring rtM204V. Patients with HBV genotype A or HIV co-infection were more likely to harbor the rtM204V mutation. Patients coinfected with HIV showed multiple mutations more frequently, including the triple mutation that may elicit a vaccine escape phenotype. Among patients co-infected with HIV/HBV, strict HBV DNA monitoring is essential to detect treatment failure and adapt therapy to avoid limitations of future therapeutic options or the emergence of a public health threat.