Susceptibility to HIV/AIDS: an individual characteristic we can measure?
Susceptibility to HIV-1 infections is, beside other factors, determined by individual host genetic variants like HLA class I alleles, CCR5 and CCR2 variants and levels of CCR5 binding chemokines. A new approach to determine the individual risk of acquiring an HIV infection or to estimate the disease progression could now be possible. In a recent study, a significant interindividual and interpopulation difference in the copy number of a segmental duplication encompassing the gene encoding CCL3L1, a potent human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV- 1)-suppressive chemokine was found. Possession of a CCL3L1 copy number lower than the population average was associated with markedly enhanced HIV/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) susceptibility. This could lead to a screening test that identifies people who have a higher or lower susceptibility to HIV/ AIDS, potentially enabling clinicians to adapt treatment regimens. Also, this is particularly important for assessment of the efficacy of a protective vaccine.
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Dept. of Infectious Diseases, Medical Policlinic, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Pettenkoferstr. 8a, 80336 Munich, Germany. Frank.Goebel@med.uni-muenchen.de
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D018925:Chemokines / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D019742:Chemokines, CC / Q000235:genetics; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans
C492767:CCL3L1 protein, human; D018925:Chemokines; D019742:Chemokines, CC