Prevalence and the role of CCR5Δ32 heterozygosity in disease progression in HIV positive patients in the Czech Republic
Abstract
Entry of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in target cells is enabled by CD4 receptor and one of two co-receptors, CXCR4 or CCR5. Deletion of 32 bp in CCR5 gene (CCR5Δ32) in both alleles provides strong but not absolute resistence to HIV-1 infection and deletion in one allele slows disease progression to AIDS.
Here, we analyzed the prevalence and the role of CCR5Δ32 heterozygosity on the disease progression in HIV positive patients in the Czech Republic. A total of 92 HIV-1 seropositive subjects that included 80 Czech individuals from the AIDS center in the Hospital Na Bulovce in Prague were inrolled in CCR5 genotyping as a part of a study of the role of HIV fitness on disease progression.
DNA was extracted from patient's peripheral blood mononuclear cells and subjected to rea-time PCR with specific probes detecting wild-type and 32 bp-deleted CCR5 variants. A subgroup of 74 antiretroviral therapy-naive patients with more than one year of follow-up was used to determine the role of the CCR5Δ32 heterozygous phenotype in disease progeression.
CCR5Δ32 was found heterozygous in 23.8% of 80 Czech HIV-1 seropositive individuals which is very similar to 21% and 24% prevalence reported in HIV negative Czech population. Homozygous mutant variant was not detected.
In CCR5Δ32 heterozygous group we observed slightly higher mean CD4+ T-cell count and lower mean plasma viremia levels. Overall, our study indicates no obvious benefit of CCR5Δ32 heterozygosity on HIV transmission and only small benefit on disease progression in the Czech HIV-1 cohort.