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geno test results
Apr 10, 2006
geno test showed resistant to all meds including current drugs i am taking. vl test indicated level at 55. tcell at 698. if resistant to drugs why such good results?
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Response from Dr. Sherer
I'll add another question: How was the laboratory able to obtain a genotype with a viral load of 55 copies/ml, when usually a level of >1,000 copies/ml is needed for enough material to genotype?
I will answer your question as though your information is reliable, but it is possible that your numbers are off. The genotype test results may precede the impact of acquired drug resistance, i.e. a rise in viral load followed by a fall in CD4 cell count. So it is possible to see mutations, but to see relatively positive viral load and CD4 cell counts, as in your situation.
If you are truly resistant to all medications, including the ones that you are taking, then you will likely see these consequences on your next tests, i.e. a rise in viral load and a fall in CD4 cell count, though these events may happen over a period of weeks to months.
I would advise you and your doctor to repeat the test, and to consider a phenotype test in addition to a genotype, to see if the genotype findings do indeed translate to 'resistant to all drugs', as you suggest. More often there remains some possible activity of drugs within the NRTI and PI class. And in this era, there still may be a viable option for you, i.e. either tipranavir or TMC-114 in combination with enfurvitide, so I definitely recommend that you talk to your doctor about this question and this response.
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