Ethnic differences in the adaptation rate of HIV gp120 from a vaccine trial.
Differences in HIV-1 gp120 sequence variation were examined in North American volunteers who became infected during a phase III vaccine trial using the rgp120 vaccine. Molecular adaptation of the virus in vaccine and placebo recipients from different ethnic subgroups was compared by estimating the dN/dS ratios in viruses sampled from each individual using three different methods. ANOVA analyses detected significant differences in d(N)/d(S) ratios among races (P < 0.02). gp120 sequences from the black individuals showed higher mean d(N)/d(S) ratios for all estimators (1.24-1.45) than in other races (0.66-1.35), and several pairwise comparisons involving blacks remained significant (P < 0.05) after correction for multiple tests. In addition, black-placebo individuals showed significantly (P < 0.02) higher mean d(N)/d(S) ratios (1.3-1.66) than placebo individuals from the other races (0.65-1.56). These results suggest intrinsic differences among races in immune response and highlight the need for including multiple ethnicities in the design of future HIV-1 vaccine studies and trials.
Pérez-Losada
Marcos
M
CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Campus Agrário de Vairão, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal. mlosada@genoma-llc.com
Posada
David
D
Arenas
Miguel
M
Jobes
David V
DV
Sinangil
Faruk
F
Berman
Phillip W
PW
Crandall
Keith A
KA
D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D005006:Ethnicity; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000821:virology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D009656:North America
D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; C514793:gp120 protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1