Principles of HIV resistance testing and overview of assay performance characteristics

HIV drug resistance testing is becoming an integral part of antiretroviral drug development and of patient management. The parameters that characteriz e the performance of both phenotypic and genotypic assays and the validatio n of this performance are essential to their proper use for these applicati ons. Several principles and biological factors impacting drug resistance te sting are summarized. Considerations regarding quality control and validati on of the performance of genotypic and phenotypic assays are also addressed .