Hannah Castro

Background: Dolutegravir (DTG) is a preferred anchor antiretroviral therapy (ART) for children and adolescents with HIV (CAWH). Methods: We assessed the effectiveness and safety of DTG in CAWH aged 0–18 years at DTG start in routine care in Europe and Thailand, evaluating viral suppression (viral load [VL] <50 copies/mL), cumulative incidence and associated factors of viral failure (VF; confirmed VL ≥400 copies/mL) and safety outcomes. Results: Of 1230 CAWH on DTG, 49% were female. At DTG start, median (IQR) age was 14 (11–16) years, 10% were ART-naive, 49% ART-experienced/suppressed (VL <200 copies/mL), 13% ART-experienced/viremic (VL ≥200 copies/mL), and 28% ART-experienced/unknown VL. Median duration on DTG was 93 (49–163) weeks. Virall suppression was 88%–91% throughout follow-up. Cumulative incidence (95% CI) of VF at weeks 96 and 144 was 4.3% (3.1%–6.1%) and 8.3% (6.2%–11.1%). Increased risk of VF was associated with female sex, ART-experienced/viremic, advanced/severe immunosuppression, previous treatment failure, and region (P < .05, adjusting for age, sex and ART/VL status). The risk of VF was lower on DTG than CAWH on protease-inhibitor-based regimens (P < .001). Among 1146 with clinical data, 26 (2%) experienced 52 DTG-related adverse events, including 5 serious adverse events. Of 849 with laboratory data, 44 (5%) had 54 grade ≥3 events (<1 per 100 person-years). DTG discontinuation by weeks 96 and 144 was 5.0% (3.8%–6.7%) and 9.5% (7.5%–12.0%). Conclusions: DTG was well tolerated, with ∼90% virally suppressed <50 copies/mL. VF was low overall but was significantly higher in children/adolescents ART-experienced and viraemic at DTG start, requiring close monitoring.

Recent studies have shown a decrease in CD4 count during adolescence in young people with perinatally acquired human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, PHIV). Young people with PHIV in the United Kingdom, followed in the Collaborative HIV Paediatric Study who started antiretroviral therapy (ART) from 2000 onward were included. Changes in CD4 count over time from age 10 to 20 years were analyzed using mixed-effects models, and were compared to published CD4 data for the gerneral population. Potential predictors were examined and included demographics, age at ART start, nadir CD4 z score (age-adjusted) in childhood, and time-updated viral load. Of 1258 young people with PHIV included, 669 (53%) were female, median age at ART initiation was 8.3 years, and the median nadir CD4 z score was −4.0. Mean CD4 count was higher in young people with PHIV who started ART before age 10 years and had a nadir CD4 z score ≥−4; these young people with PHIV had a decline in CD4 count after age 10 that was comparable to that of the general population. Mean CD4 count was lower in young people with PHIV who had started ART before age 10 and had a nadir CD4 z score <−4; for this group, the decline in CD4 count after age 10 was steeper over time. In children, in addition to starting ART at an early age, optimizing ART to maintain a higher CD4 z score during childhood may be important to maximizing immune reconstitution later in life. This graphical abstract is also available at Tidbit: https://tidbitapp.io/tidbits/evolution-of-cd4-t-cell-count-with-age-in-a-cohort-of-young-people-growing-up-with-perinatally-acquired-hiv-e628fcfc-4e7a-4d1f-b878-ebf12b31f134

Introduction: Globally about 1.7 million children were living with HIV in 2020. Two integrase strand transfer inhibitors, dolutegravir and raltegravir, are increasingly used in children. We conducted a systematic review to assess the effectiveness and safety of dolutegravir and raltegravir in children and adolescents living with HIV, aged 0–19 years.Methods: Sources included MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Library, clinical trial registries, abstracts from key conferences and reference list searching. Observational studies and clinical trials published January 2009–March 2021 were eligible. Outcomes included efficacy/effectiveness (CD4 counts and viral load) and/or safety outcomes (mortality, grade 3/4 adverse events and treatment discontinuation) through 6 months or more post‐treatment initiation. Risk of bias was assessed using previously published tools appropriate for the study design. Narrative syntheses were conducted.Results and discussion: In total, 3626 abstracts and 371 papers were screened. Eleven studies, including 2330 children/adolescents, reported data on dolutegravir: one randomized controlled trial (RCT; low risk of bias), one single‐arm trial (unclear risk of bias) and nine cohort studies (three low risk of bias, two unclear risk and four high risk). Ten studies, including 649 children/adolescents receiving raltegravir, were identified: one RCT (low risk of bias), one single‐arm trial (low risk of bias) and eight cohort studies (four low risk of bias, three unclear risk and one high risk). Viral suppression levels in children/adolescents at 12 months were high (>70%) in most studies assessing dolutegravir (mostly second‐ or subsequent‐line, or mixed treatment lines), and varied from 42% (5/12) to 83% (44/53) at 12 months in studies assessing raltegravir (mostly second‐ or subsequent‐line). Across all studies assessing dolutegravir or raltegravir, grade 3/4 adverse events (clinical and/or laboratory) were reported in 0–50% of subjects, few resulted in discontinuation, few were drug related and no deaths were attributed to either drug.Conclusions: These reassuring findings suggest that dolutegravir and raltegravir are effective and safe as preferred regimens in children and adolescents living with HIV. With the rollout of dolutegravir in paediatric populations already underway, it is critical that data are collected on safety and effectiveness in infants, children and adolescents, including on longer‐term outcomes, such as weight and metabolic changes.

To identify accessory mutations associated with high-level resistance to reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors in HIV-1 subtypes B and C. Changes relative to the wild-type for codons 1–400 of RT were analysed from treatment-experienced patients infected with subtypes B (5464 patients) and C (1920 patients). Positions associated with the accumulation of mutations conferring resistance to thymidine analogues and to non-nucleoside RT inhibitors (NNRTIs) were identified. A subtype-specific single-replication cycle drug susceptibility assay was used to determine whether some of the mutations affected drug susceptibility or viral infectivity. In subtype B, mutations at 31 and 26 positions were associated with the accumulation of thymidine analogue mutations (TAMs) and NNRTI mutations, respectively; in subtype C, 18 and 13 positions were identified, respectively. Amino acid changes at the following positions were differentially associated with (i) the accumulation of 0–4+ TAMs in subtypes B and C (away from consensus): 43 (27.0% B versus 2.5% C); 118 (36.4% B versus 16.2% C); 135 (12.5% B versus 28.0% C); and 326 (2.6% towards consensus in B versus 7.6% away in C) and (ii) the accumulation of 0–3+ NNRTI mutations (away from consensus): 43 (10.2% B versus 0.5% C); and 68 (5.2% B versus 10.3% C). Codon changes K43E, E44D and V118I were found to have no effect on susceptibility to three NRTIs with or without TAMs in either subtype; however, some accessory mutations had subtype-specific effects on viral infectivity. Differences between subtypes B and C were observed in the development and effect of accessory mutations associated with high-level resistance to RT inhibitors.