What is drug resistance testing?
Drug resistance testing is an important tool in HIV therapy that can help physicians understand more about a person’s virus and therapy options. There are two methods of drug resistance testing: phenotypic and genotypic. Phenotypic testing Phenotypic testing measures a person’s HIV against each of the currently available antiviral drugs. This method detects drug sensitivity by directly exposing the virus to a drug. Once the virus is exposed to a specific drug, it is evaluated to determine how much of the drug is necessary to block viral activity. An individual’s virus is resistant to a particular drug when more of the drug is required to block the virus. Genotypic testing Genotypic analysis determines the presence of genetic mutations in HIV that may be associated with drug resistance. By using genotypic analysis to evaluate the genetic makeup of someone’s virus, the data can be compared to past trends in HIV treatment failure. Included in the knowledge about HIV are preestablished gen
