Resistance passage studies were conducted with five INIs (integrase inhibitors) that have been tested in clinical trials to date: a new naphthyridinone-type INI S/GSK-364735, raltegravir, elvitegravir, L-870,810 and S-1360. In establishing the passage system and starting from concentrations several fold above the EC50 value, resistance mutations against S-1360 and related diketoacid-type compounds could be isolated from infected MT-2 cell cultures from day 14 to 28. Q148R and F121Y were the two main pathways of resistance to S/GSK-364735. Q148R/K and N155H, which were found in patients failing raltegravir treatment in Phase IIb studies, were observed during passage with raltegravir with this method. The fold resistance S-1360 of 40 mutant molecular clones versus wild type virus was compared with these five INIs. The overall resistance pattern of S/GSK-364735 was similar to that of raltegravir and other INIs. However, different fold resistances of particular mutations were noted among different INIs, reflecting a potential to develop INIs with distinctly different resistant profiles. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.