Analysis of CCR5Δ32 Geographic Distribution and Its Correlation with Some Climatic and Geographic Factors

Abstract

We studied the possible effects of climatic-geographic factors on the world distribution of the mutant allele for the chemokine receptor gene CCR5, which has a 32-bp deletion (CCR5Δ32) preventing cell invasion by the primary transmitting strain of HIV-1. New data on CCR5 polymorphisms in Russian, Ukrainian, and Moldavian populations are presented. All available data on CCR5Δ32 frequencies in the Old World (number of populations n = 77) were used for construction of a geographical gene map to analyze possible correlations between allele frequencies and eight climatic-geographic parameters. A strong positive correlation was found between the allele frequency and latitude (r = 0.72), a strong negative correlation with annual radiation balance (r = –0.66), and a weaker negative correlation with longitude (r = –0.34). Partial correlations were calculated excluding the influence of latitude. The negative correlation between the allele frequency and annual radiation balance decreased (r = –0.42), but remained large and significant. We propose that the existence of correlations between the cline of CCR5Δ32 frequencies and climatic-geographic parameters provides evidence for a possible effect of either natural environmental factors or large-scale population movements on the distribution of this allele.

The frequency of CCR5Δ32 and CCR2-64I in southern Iranian normal population

“…Due to the existence of strong positive correlation between CCR5 32 allele frequency and climate-geographical factors (such as latitude, average January temperature, annual radiation balance) [20], higher CCR5 32 allele frequency in north of Iran is expected than in southern Iranian population. Further study is needed to clarify the frequency of CCR5 32 and CCR2-64I alleles in northern Iranian normal population and in different Iranian ethnic groups.…”

Determination of the CCR5∆32 frequency in Emiratis and Tunisians and the screening of the CCR5 gene for novel alleles in Emiratis

“…Several research studies have shown that this variant was more prevalent in Caucasians and almost absent in Asians. The greatest CCR5Δ32 frequency was identified particularly in North European subjects (10-20%), while the frequency declines as you go from north to south Europe reaching 1% among Balkan Peninsula (Arenzana-Seisdedos and Parmentier, 2006; Galvani and Novembre, 2005;Libert et al, 1998;Limborska et al, 2002;Lucotte, 2002). Globally, the distribution of the CCR5Δ32 allele varies widely with 21.7% in North American Caucasians, 20.93% in Ashkenazi Jews, 6.9% in Hispanics, 5.8% in African-Americans, 5.3% in Colombia, 2% in North Africa, and 0.6% in Asian-Americans, (Lucotte and Smets, 2003;Su et al, 2000;Zimmerman et al, 1997).…”

The Occurrence of HIV-1 Resistance Biomarker Among Two Cohorts from Poland

“…One of such factors is the genetic resistance caused by 32 bp deletion in CCR5 gene can have the effect on limitation of infection. In Europe the prevalence of 32 bp deletion in the human β-chemokine receptor gene is ranked between 16% in the North Europe to 4% in the South Europe [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. In Poland the frequency of deletion was assessed at 10.9% [26].…”