Overview
HIV-1 resistance mutations are nucleotide substitutions in the viral genome that reduce the susceptibility of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 to one or more antiretroviral drugs. They arise because reverse transcriptase lacks proofreading activity, generating diverse viral quasispecies on which drug pressure selects for variants that survive treatment. Mutations are classified by the gene and drug class they affect: changes in the reverse transcriptase gene confer resistance to nucleoside and non-nucleoside inhibitors, protease gene mutations undermine protease inhibitors, and integrase mutations compromise integrase strand-transfer inhibitors. Resistance may be transmitted, present in treatment-naive individuals before therapy, or acquired during incompletely suppressive treatment. Major mutations cause substantial loss of drug activity on their own, while accessory mutations enhance resistance or restore viral fitness. Detection relies on genotypic resistance testing, which sequences the relevant genes, and on phenotypic assays measuring replication under drug exposure; interpretation algorithms translate mutation patterns into predicted susceptibility. Drivers in clinical practice include suboptimal adherence and inadequate viral-load monitoring, particularly in resource-limited settings. Understanding these mutations supports regimen selection, salvage therapy, and surveillance of circulating resistant strains, helping clinicians preserve treatment options and limit onward transmission of drug-resistant virus across populations and care programmes.
Research published in this journal
5 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
Dual Choice for Dual Target Anti-HIV Therapy
Phytochemicals May Arrest HIV-1 Progression
Supporting Quality Data Systems: Lessons Learned from Early Implementation of Routine Viral Load Monitoring at a Large Clinic in Lilongwe, Malawi
When and How Should we be Measuring Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy in Resource-Limited Settings?
How this research is being cited
The 5 articles above have been cited 28 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
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H. Adhiambo et al. · 2025 · PLOS Global Public Health
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2025 · The Natural Products Journal
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2025 · PLOS Global Public Health
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2024 · medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
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A. Waljee et al. · 2022 · Gut
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2022 · Journal of Human Virology & Retrovirology
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2022 · Gut
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2021 · Journal of the International AIDS Society
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Hiv-1 Resistance Mutations, linking to each citing work.