title: Association of polymorphisms of the mu opioid receptor gene with the severity of HIV infection and response to HIV treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mu opioid receptor (OPRM1) ligands may alter expression of chemokines and chemokine receptors involved in penetration of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 into the cell. We suggest that OPRM1 variants may affect the pathophysiology of HIV infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  DNA samples from 1031 eligible African Americans, Hispanics, and whites from the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) who were alive as of April 2006 were analyzed. We performed regression analysis of association of 18 OPRM1 variants with a change of viral load and CD4 cell count during 2 periods: between admission to WIHS and the start of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) (interval X) and between the start of HAART and the most recent WIHS visit (interval Y), and examined the association of these variants with HIV status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regardless of genotype, a significant decrease in viral load during interval X was found for each ethnicity. Whites with allele G of the functional polymorphism 118A > G (reference sequence rs1799971) showed a smaller decrease in viral load; those bearing minor alleles IVS1 + 1050A, IVS1 + 14123A, and IVS2 + 31A showed a larger decrease in viral load over interval X (0.01 < P < .05). Hispanics with the same alleles showed a greater increase in CD4 cell count over interval Y (0.01 < P < .05). We found an association between OPRM1 variants and HIV status in African Americans and whites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OPRM1 polymorphisms may alter the severity of HIV infection before and after HAART.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of the Biology of Addictive Diseases, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA. proudnd@rockefeller.edu
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Proudnikov
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Randesi
authors.forename: Orna
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Levran
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Crystal
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dorn
authors.forename: Jurg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Mary Jeanne
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kreek
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu / Q000235:genetics*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; C485764:OPRM1 protein, human; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu