Host Determinants of HIV‐1 Control in African Americans

Abstract

We performed a whole-genome association study on HIV-1 viral load setpoint in an African American cohort (n=515), and an intronic SNP in the HLA-B gene showed one of the strongest associations. Using a subset of patients, we show that this SNP reflects the effect of the HLA-B*5703 allele, which shows a genome-wide significant association with HIV-1 VL setpoint (p=5.6×10−10). These analyses therefore confirm a member of the HLA-B*57 group of alleles as the most important common variant influencing viral load variation in African Americans, consistent with what is observed in individuals of European ancestry in which the most important common variant is HLA-B*5701.

Human Leukocyte Antigen Variants B*44 and B*57 Are Consistently Favorable during Two Distinct Phases of Primary HIV-1 Infection in Sub-Saharan Africans with Several Viral Subtypes

“…In most studies, a quantitative measure of VL is used without reference to estimated date of infection (EDI), under the assumption that patients are seldom observed during acute-phase (peak) infection and that the early chronic-phase (set-point) VL is usually stable for years in patients with no apparent manifestations of immunodeficiency. Factors known or suspected to influence VL range from viral mutations (changes in replication fitness or switches in coreceptor tropism) (15,28,39,72) to host genes that govern innate and adaptive immune responses (54,75,81,83,84,86).Within the human nuclear genome, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I genes are the most convincing (and universally applicable) quantitative trait loci for HIV-1 viremia (14,16,17,66). However, the individual HLA alleles, haplotypes, and supertypes with reported impacts on HIV-1 VL are not always clear because their distribution and patterns of linkage disequilibrium often differ from one population to another (7,53,63).…”

“…Within the human nuclear genome, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I genes are the most convincing (and universally applicable) quantitative trait loci for HIV-1 viremia (14,16,17,66). However, the individual HLA alleles, haplotypes, and supertypes with reported impacts on HIV-1 VL are not always clear because their distribution and patterns of linkage disequilibrium often differ from one population to another (7,53,63).…”

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“…The mt DNA L2 lineage is significantly associated with decline of CD4+ T cells in HAART-naïve HIV-infected individuals of African American descent [8]. A whole-genome association study on HIV-1 viral load set point in an African American cohort, and an intronic SNP in the HLA-B gene showed one of the strongest associations [9].…”

Conventional Vaccine to Prevent AIDS A Paradigm or A Paradox? A SWOT Analysis

“…The HLA allele B*5701 has been reported as the host element in association with the endogenous retroviral element [77]. The impact of the ancestry of population with this allele has been investigated across populations from different parts of the world [78,79]. Systems biology in hands with a multidisciplinary approach has done a staticstical estimation for understanding the host-virus interaction.…”