In Vitro Phenotypic Susceptibility of HIV-2 Clinical Isolates to CCR5 Inhibitors

HIV-2 is naturally resistant to nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, to a fusion inhibitor, and to some of the protease inhibitors. Maraviroc is the first drug of the new anti-CCR5 drug class and is effective only on CCR5-tropic (R5) HIV-1. No previous studies concerning HIV-2 susceptibility to maraviroc have been reported yet. We developed a phenotypic maraviroc susceptibility test using a peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) model. We analyzed the maraviroc susceptibility of 13 R5 HIV-2, 2 X4R5 (dual) HIV-2, and 2 CXCR4-tropic (X4) HIV-2 clinical isolates. We also tested, with the same protocol, 1 X4 HIV-1 and 4 R5 HIV-1 clinical isolates. For the R5 HIV-2 clinical isolates, the 50% effective concentration (EC(50)) for maraviroc was 0.80 nM (interquartile range [IQR], 0.48 to 1.39 nM), similar to that observed for the R5 HIV-1 isolates. The median maximum percentage of inhibition in the R5 HIV-2 isolates was 93% (IQR, 84 to 98%), similar to that observed in the R5 HIV-1 isolates. As expected, both X4 HIV-1 and HIV-2 were highly resistant to maraviroc. Our study showed for the first time that maraviroc is active in vitro against R5 HIV-2. The new tools we developed will allow identification of HIV-2-infected patients eligible for CCR5 inhibitor use and management of virological failure when receiving a maraviroc-based regimen.