Page 140 - HIV/AIDS Guidelines

HIV-2 Infection (Last updated January 10, 2011; last reviewed January 10, 2011)
HIV-2 infection is endemic in West Africa. Although HIV-2 has had only limited spread outside this area, it
should be considered in persons of West African origin or those who have had sexual contact or shared
needles with persons of West African origin. The prevalence of HIV-2 infection is also disproportionately
high in countries with strong socioeconomic ties to West Africa (e.g., France; Spain; Portugal; and former
Portuguese colonies such as Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and parts of India near Goa).

The clinical course of HIV-2 infection is generally characterized by a longer asymptomatic stage, lower
plasma HIV-2 viral loads, and lower mortality rates compared with HIV-1 infection. 1-2 However, HIV-2
infection can progress to AIDS, and thus antiretroviral therapy (ART) may become necessary during the
course of infection. Concomitant HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection may occur and should be considered in patients
from an area with high prevalence of HIV-2. In the appropriate epidemiologic setting, HIV-2 infection should
be suspected in patients with clinical conditions suggestive of HIV infection but with atypical serologic
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results (e.g., a positive screening assay with an indeterminate HIV-1 Western blot). The possibility of HIV-2
infection should also be considered in the appropriate epidemiologic setting in patients with serologically
confirmed HIV infection but low or undetectable viral loads or in those with declining CD4 counts despite
apparent virologic suppression on ART.

The Multispot HIV-1/HIV-2 Rapid Test (Bio-Rad Laboratories) is Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
approved for differentiating HIV-1 from HIV-2 infection. Commercially available HIV-1 viral load assays do
not reliably detect or quantify HIV-2, and no HIV-2 commercial viral load assays are currently available. 4-5
Most studies reporting HIV-2 viral loads use “in-house” assays that are not widely available, making it
difficult to monitor virologic response in the clinical setting. In addition, no validated HIV-2 genotypic or
phenotypic antiretroviral (ARV) resistance assays are available.
To date, there have been no randomized trials addressing the question of when to start ART or the choice of
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initial or second-line therapy for HIV-2 infection; thus, the optimal treatment strategy has not been defined.
HIV-2 appears intrinsically resistant to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) and to
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enfuvirtide. In vitro data suggest HIV-2 is sensitive to the currently available nucleoside reverse
transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), although with a lower barrier to resistance than HIV-1. 9-10 Variable
sensitivity among protease inhibitors (PIs) has been reported; lopinavir (LPV), saquinavir (SQV), and
darunavir (DRV) are more active against HIV-2 than other approved PIs. 11-14 The integrase inhibitor,
raltegravir (RAL), and the CCR5 antagonist, maraviroc (MVC), appear active against some HIV-2 isolates,
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although no approved assays to determine HIV-2 coreceptor tropism exist and HIV-2 is known to utilize
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multiple minor coreceptors in addition to CCR5 and CXCR4. Several small studies suggest poor responses
among HIV-2 infected individuals treated with some ARV regimens, including dual-NRTI regimens,
regimens containing two NRTIs + NNRTI, and some unboosted PI-based regimens including nelfinavir
(NFV) or indinavir (IDV) plus zidovudine (ZDV) and lamivudine (3TC). 6, 17-19 Clinical data on the utility of
triple-NRTI regimens are conflicting. 20-21 In general, boosted PI-containing regimens have resulted in more
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favorable virologic and immunologic responses. One small study suggested satisfactory responses to
lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-containing regimens in 17 of 29 (59%) of ARV-naive subjects. 22
Resistance-associated mutations develop commonly in HIV-2 patients on therapy. 17, 21, 23 Genotypic
algorithms used to predict drug resistance in HIV-1 may not be applicable to HIV-2, because pathways and
mutational patterns leading to resistance may differ. 10, 21, 24 CD4 cell recovery on therapy may be poor, 25
suggesting that more reliable methods for monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy in HIV-2
infection are needed.

Some groups have recommended specific preferred and alternative regimens for initial therapy of HIV-2
infection, though as yet there are no controlled trial data to reliably predict their success. Until more
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definitive data are available in an ART-naive patient with HIV-2 mono-infection or with HIV-1/HIV-2 dual
Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in HIV-1-Infected Adults and Adolescents I-24

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