Drug sensitivity of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolates after ribavirin therapy

The antiviral agent ribavirin is effective against several virally induced diseases, and there is evidence that it might prove useful against human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) infection. Thus, there is interest in studying the resistance level of HIV-1 isolates to ribavirin following drug therapy. Low-passage clinical strains of HIV-1 were isolated from 3 patients undergoing treatment with ribavirin for 5-9 months. No significant changes in drug sensitivity were seen for sequential virus samples obtained before, during, and after antiviral therapy. These observations suggest that the appearance of a resistant phenotype is not induced by treatment with ribavirin in HIV-1-infected persons.