Identification of biased amino acid substitution patterns in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolates from patients treated with protease inhibitors.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) amino acid substitutions observed during antiretroviral drug therapy may be caused by drug selection, non-drug-related evolution, or sampling error introduced by the sequencing process. We analyzed HIV-1 sequences from 371 untreated patients and from 178 patients receiving a single protease inhibitor. Amino acid substitution patterns during treatment were compared with inferred substitution patterns arising evolutionarily without treatment. Our results suggest that most treatment-associated amino acid substitutions are caused by selective drug pressure, including substitutions not previously associated with drug resistance.