Could FIV zoonosis responsible of the breakdown of the pathocenosis which has reduced the European CCR5-Delta32 allele frequencies

Abstract

Background: In Europe, the north-south downhill cline frequency of the chemokine receptor CCR5 allele with a 32-bp deletion (CCR5-Δ32) raises interesting questions for evolutionary biologists. We had suggested first that, in the past, the European colonizers, principally Romans, might have been instrumental of a progressively decrease of the frequencies southwards. Indeed, statistical analyses suggested strong negative correlations between the allele frequency and historical parameters including the colonization dates by Mediterranean civilisations. The gene flows from colonizers to native populations were extremely low but colonizers are responsible of the spread of several diseases suggesting that the dissemination of parasites in naive populations could have induced a breakdown rupture of the fragile pathocenosis changing the balance among diseases. The new equilibrium state has been reached through a negative selection of the null allele.

Chemokine receptor CCR5: from AIDS to atherosclerosis

“…Subsequently, a deletion polymorphism in CCR5, known as CCR5delta32, was recognized and found to lead to near complete resistance to HIV‐1 infection in the homozygous state, and slower progression to AIDS in heterozygotes (Dean et al ., 1996; Huang et al ., 1996; Liu et al ., 1996; Samson et al ., 1996b; Zimmerman et al ., 1997). The age of this polymorphism is still in dispute (Stephens et al ., 1998; Hummel et al ., 2005), as are the selection pressures that lead to the maintenance of this polymorphism (Novembre et al ., 2005; Cohn and Weaver, 2006; Hedrick and Verrelli, 2006; Faure, 2008; Faure and Royer‐Carenzi, 2008). This 32 base pair deletion causes a shift in the reading frame, the creation of an early stop codon and the production of a truncated protein that is retained in the endoplasmic reticulum.…”

Classification of viral zoonosis through receptor pattern analysis

“…The first virus, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), uses Felis catus (domestic cat) as its primary host and CD4 as its receptor. According to the literature [ 22 , 23 ], FIV infection of humans is rare but has been reported. Our method categorized this case as near-infection (G = 3).…”