HIV-2 X4 tropism is associated with lower CD4+ cell count in treatment-experienced patients.

Abstract

The distribution and evolution of X4/R5 viral tropism during HIV-2 infection remains unknown. HIV-2 tropism was assessed in 83 antiretroviral-experienced patients with virological failure. Tropism was predicted as X4 in 58% of patients and was associated with a CD4 cell count of less than 100 cells/μl, and with a higher number of drug resistance mutations. This high prevalence of X4 virus might compromise the use of CCR5 inhibitors, currently mostly considered in HIV-2 salvage therapy of highly pretreated patients.