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HIV/AIDS: Study finds genetic influence on pace of HIV/AIDS progression

AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, November 12, 2007
Staff Medical Writers

NewsRx -- What: Viral load—the amount of virus in the blood of an HIV-infected person—has long been viewed as the chief indicator of how quickly someone infected with HIV infection progresses to AIDS. New data published in Nature Immunology builds on previous work that suggests that several other factors in addition to viral load significantly contribute to disease progression rates (see also HIV/AIDS).

Researchers led by Sunil Ahuja, M.D., of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, examined genetic information from more than 3,500 HIV-1 infected and uninfected individuals. They found that individuals who had specific combinations of two genes—CCR5, which helps facilitate HIV entry into the cell, and CCL3L1, an immune response gene—were much more likely to have reduced immune responses and a greater decline in CD4 T cells, two hallmarks of progressive HIV disease. Further, the researchers found that in HIV-infected subjects, viral load contributed only 9 percent to the variability in rate of progression to AIDS; variations in CCR5 and CCL3L1 combined accounted for 6 percent variability in AIDS progression rates.

The findings may have implications for the care of HIV-infected individuals in terms of being able to more effectively predict the course of HIV disease. With further research, this work may lead to additional markers, which along with viral load may serve as indicators of HIV progression. The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, AIDS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Genetics, HIV, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Immunology, Viral Load, Virology, NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, AIDS Weekly via NewsRx.com.

Reference

Dolan MJ, Kulkarni H, Camargo JF, et al., CCL3L1 and CCR5 influence cell-mediated immunity and affect HIV-AIDS pathogenesis via viral entry-independent mechanisms, Nat Immunol. 2007 Oct 21.

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