Evaluation of genotypic antiviral resistance testing as an alternative to phenotypic testing in a patient with DOCK8 deficiency and severe HSV-1 disease

AM Casto, SC Stout, R Selvarangan… - The Journal of …, 2020 - academic.oup.com
AM Casto, SC Stout, R Selvarangan, AF Freeman, BD Newell, ED Stahl, AA Ahmed
The Journal of infectious diseases, 2020academic.oup.com
Antiviral resistance frequently complicates the treatment of herpes simplex virus (HSV)
infections in immunocompromised patients. Here we present the case of an adolescent boy
with dedicator of cytokinesis 8 (DOCK8) deficiency, who experienced recurrent infections
with resistant HSV-1. We used both phenotypic and genotypic methodologies to
characterize the resistance profile of HSV-1 in the patient and conclude that genotypic
testing outperformed phenotypic testing. We also present the first analysis of intrahost HSV-1 …
Abstract
Antiviral resistance frequently complicates the treatment of herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections in immunocompromised patients. Here we present the case of an adolescent boy with dedicator of cytokinesis 8 (DOCK8) deficiency, who experienced recurrent infections with resistant HSV-1. We used both phenotypic and genotypic methodologies to characterize the resistance profile of HSV-1 in the patient and conclude that genotypic testing outperformed phenotypic testing. We also present the first analysis of intrahost HSV-1 evolution in an immunocompromised patient. While HSV-1 can remain static in an immunocompetent individual for decades, the virus from this patient rapidly acquired genetic changes throughout its genome. Finally, we document a likely case of transmitted resistance in HSV-1 between the patient and his brother, who also has DOCK8 deficiency. This event demonstrates that resistant HSV-1 is transmissible among immunocompromised persons.
Oxford University Press