title: Antibodies to varicella-zoster virus in blood donors with genetic variance in CC chemokine receptor 5.
abstract: Carriers of a 32 bp deletion (Delta32) allele of the CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) gene are reported to be more likely to lack antibodies to varicella-zoster virus than CCR5 wild-type individuals. To find out whether CCR5-Delta32 is associated with the seroprevalence of varicella-zoster virus infection, we tested blood donors with different CCR5-Delta32 genotypes for varicella-zoster virus IgG. Antibody to varicella-zoster virus was present in 209 (99.5%) of 210 CCR5-Delta32 carriers and exactly the same proportion of CCR5 wild-type individuals (209 of 210). We have therefore found no evidence that the CCR5-Delta32 allele is associated with decreased seroprevalence of varicella-zoster virus infection.
authors.affiliation: Viral Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Boulevard, MSC 7248, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.
authors.forename: Mingdong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carrington
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D001782:Blood Donors; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D019713:Receptors, CCR5 / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D019713:Receptors, CCR5