Zidovudine treatment results in the selection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 variants whose genotypes confer increasing levels of drug resistance.

High level resistance to 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT, zidovudine or Retrovir) is conferred by the presence of four or five mutations (Met-41-->Leu; Asp-67-->Asn; Lys-70-->Arg; Thr-215-->Tyr or Phe; Lys-219-->Gln) in the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reverse transcriptase. The order of appearance of these five mutations in asymptomatic patients during therapy has been studied. This has enabled us to propose a model for the acquisition of zidovudine resistance mutations during the treatment of high-risk asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals. A consistent acquisition pattern of mutations at codons 41, 70 and 215 was observed in 17 individuals. Complex mixtures of HIV species containing different combinations of single and linked double resistance mutations were present early in zidovudine therapy in isolates from two patients studied in detail. From these mixtures the linked Leu-41/Tyr-215 genotype outgrew all others initially. The development of each new virus population is likely to be mediated primarily by the increase in the level of drug resistance rather than changes in the growth kinetics of the virus. This leads us to conclude that one major driving force in the outgrowth of different mutant viruses is the selective advantage conferred by higher levels of drug resistance.