CCR5 Δ 32 mutation is not prevalent in Iranians with chronic HBV infection

Abstract

CCR5 is an important chemokine receptor involved in the recruitment of specific anti-viral immune cells (e.g., NK cells and T cytotoxic cells) to the liver. Previous studies indicated that the Δ 32 mutation in CCR5 gene led to inactivation of CCR5. Several conflicting studies have suggested that this mutation may be associated with either recovery or persistence of HBV infection. The main purpose of this study was to compare the frequency of the Δ 32 mutation within the CCR5 gene in a group of patients infected chronically with HBV with healthy individuals from South-East of Iran. Sixty patients with chronic HBV infection as well as 300 age-, and sex-match healthy individuals were enrolled in this study. Gap-PCR was applied to determine the frequency of CCR5 Δ 32 mutation in both groups. The results demonstrated that none of the patients infected with HBV carried the CCR5 Δ 32 mutation while, 3 (1%) of the healthy individuals were found to be heterozygotic for this mutation. The CCR5 Δ 32 mutation is not a prevalent mutation in either the patients infected chronically with HBV or their health counterparts in the South-East region of Iran. This may be attributed to either different genetic settings of the investigated population or lack of any significant correlation between this mutation and HBV pathogenicity.

Polymorphisms in CCR5Δ32 and Risk of HIV-1 Infection in the Southeast of Caspian Sea, Iran

“…CCR5 gene product, a chemokine receptor, is expressed on T cells, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. This is a specific receptor for the CC ligand 3 (CCL3), CCL4, and CCL5 chemokines as well as has an important role in the migration of immune cells to inflammatory sites [ 4 , 5 ].…”

Factors Associated with Persistence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection

“…In other studies such an association has not been demonstrated possibly due to the very low occurrence of the CCR5 delta32 mutation in the specific single ethnic populations studied. One of these studies (Khorramdelazad et al) has involved 360 subjects from South-East of Iran (60 patients with chronic HBV infection and 300 healthy individuals) where none of the HBV infected patients carried CCR5 delta32 mutation and among the healthy individuals the mutation frequency was as low as 1% [10][11][12]. The other studies have been conducted among single ethnic Korean populations where CCR5 delta32 homozygosity or heterozygosity was not found in any of studied Korean patients [12].…”

“…Some studies were focused on the investigation of the role of CCR5 receptor gene polymorphisms in the course of HBV infection and there are reports documenting the presence of an association between CCR5 receptor and hepatitis B virus infection persistence [6][7][8][9]. In different reports there are controversial data regarding the nature of the association of the CCR5 polymorphisms with the natural history, disease severity and antiviral treatment responses [10][11][12][13][14].…”

The CCR5-Delta32 genetic polymorphism and HIV-1 infection susceptibility: a meta-analysis

“…CCR5, a chemokine receptor of gene product, is expressed on macrophages, monocytes, T and dendritic cells. This is a specific receptor for the CC ligand 3 (CCL3), CCL4, and CCL5 chemokine and a key part in the transferring of immune cells to inflammatory sites [ 9 ]. The CCR5Δ32 variant is characterized by a 32 base-pair (bp) deletion of the CCR5’s gene coding region; the deletion of CCR5-delta32 was initially discovered and gained the greatest interest in the relation to infection with the HIV-1.…”