Protective effect of CCR2-64I and not of CCR5-delta32 and SDF1-3'A in pediatric HIV-1 infection

The effects of chemokine and chemokine receptor genetic polymorphisms such as stromal derived factor 1 (SDF1-3'A), CCR2-64I, and CCR5-delta32 associated with HIV-1 transmission and/or rate of disease progression in infected study subjects remain highly controversial and have been analyzed primarily only in adults. We have investigated whether these polymorphisms may provide similar beneficial effects in children exposed to HIV-1 perinatally. The prevalence of CCR2-64I allele was significantly increased (p = .03) and the CCR2-64I genotype distribution was not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, among HIV-1-exposed uninfected infants. Moreover, in the HIV-1-infected group, a delay to AIDS progression was observed among carriers of CCR2-64I allele. This is the first report that suggests a protective role of CCR2-64I allele in mother-to-infant HIV-1 transmission and documents a delay in disease progression, after the child has been infected with HIV-1. However, SDFI-3'A and CCR5-delta32 alleles did not modify the rate of HIV-1 transmission or disease progression in HIV-1-infected children.     

Distribution of two HIV-1-resistant polymorphisms (SDF1-3'A and CCR2-64I alleles) in the Polish population

Chemokine receptors (CCR2 and CXCR4) are used as coreceptors for entry of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) into the target cells. Mutations in CCR2 (CCR2-64I) and stromal-derived factor SDF1 (SDF1-3'A), the primary ligand for CXCR4, exhibited a protective effect against the onset of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The frequency of the SDF1-3'A and CCR2-64I alleles were determined in blood donors from 16 provinces, covering the entire territory of Poland. Of 1063 individuals, 274 (25.8%) were carriers of the SDF1-3'A allele; 36 of them (3.4%) were homozygotes (SDF-3'A/A) while 238 (22.4%) were heterozygotes (SDF-3'G/A), resulting in a 14.6% frequency of the SDF1-3'A allele. Moreover, in the same group of individuals, 234 (22.0%) carried the CCR2-64I allele; 6 of them (0.6%) were homozygotes (CCR2-64I/I), and 228 (21.4%) were heterozygotes (CCR2-64V/I), resulting in an 11.3% frequency of the CCR2-64I allele. The highest frequencies of the SDF1-3'A allele were found in the northeastern provinces and in one of the western provinces of Poland. In contrast, allelic frequencies of CCR2-64I varied slightly among different provinces. The different pattern of prevalence of the SDF1-3'A and CCR2-64I alleles in Poland might suggest that the CCR2-64I allele was spread much earlier than the SDF1-3'A allele in the population of Poland.     

Distribution of CCR5delta32, CCR2-64I and SDF1-3'A and plasma levels of SDF-1 in HIV-1 seronegative North Indians.

Host genetic factors play an important role in susceptibility to HIV-1 infection and progression to AIDS. Mutations in genes encoding chemokine receptors and their ligands, viz., CCR5delta32, CCR2-64I and SDF1-3'A are implicated to have protective effects against HIV-1 infection and/or disease progression. The distribution of these gene polymorphisms and their role in the course of the disease varies between individuals of different racial, ethnic and risk groups. We have examined the allelic frequencies of CCR5delta32, CCR2-64I and SDF1-3'A in 500 healthy North Indians tested seronegative for HIV-1, by PCR-RFLP. The plasma levels of stromal derived factor (SDF-1) protein were estimated in 75 individuals using ELISA kit. Frequencies of CCR5delta32, CCR2-64I and SDF1-3'A alleles in 500 individuals were 1.5%, 9.1% and 20.4%, respectively. The SDF1-3'A homozygosity was confirmed by PCR product cloning and sequencing. The relative hazard values calculated on the basis of the three locus genotype of each individual revealed high relative hazard values (>0.9). The plasma levels of SDF-1 ranged from 1.77 to 3.42 ng/ml and were comparable between the three genotypes of SDF-1. This is the first study to assess the plasma level of SDF-1 protein in Asian Indians. Low frequency of the protective allele CCR5delta32 observed in this study suggests high vulnerability of North Indians to HIV-1 infection. The precise role of SDF1-3'A in HIV-1 infection needs to be elucidated.     

Prevalence of CCR2-64I, SDF1-3'A and CCR5-Delta32 alleles in healthy Thais.

A genetic survey was performed of 200 healthy Thai blood donors for the frequency of three alleles that influence susceptibility to HIV infection and the rate of progression to HIV disease. The CCR5-Delta32 allele was not detected in this population. The CCR2-64I allele was detected at a frequency similar to that found in other Asian populations (15.7%). SDF1-3'A was detected at 33.2%, supporting a cline of increasing frequency of this allele from African and Caucasian to Asian (particularly Australasian) populations. These results have implications for the role of host genetic background in the biology and pathology of HIV in Thailand, and indicate that a systematic survey of non-Caucasian populations may reveal novel alleles important in HIV disease.     

Distribution of CCR2-64I and SDF1-3'A alleles and HIV status in 7 ethnic populations of Cameroon

Limited information is available on the prevalence among rural Africans of host genetic polymorphisms conferring resistance to HIV-1 infection or slowing HIV disease progression. We report the allelic frequencies of the AIDS-related polymorphisms CCR2-64I, SDF1-3'A, and CCR5-Delta32 in 321 volunteers from 7 ethnic groups in Cameroon. Allelic frequencies differed among the 7 ethnic groups, ranging from 10.8% to 31.3% for CCR2-64I and 0.0% to 7.1% for SDF1-3'A. No CCR5-Delta32 alleles were found. HIV seroprevalence was 6.9% in the total population and peaked at younger ages in girls and women than in boys and men. Among 15- to 54-year-olds, HIV seroprevalence varied from 2.0% to 11.1% among the village populations. Conditional logistic regression analysis using data from boys and men aged 15 to 54 years showed the number of CCR2-64I alleles to be a significant risk factor for HIV seropositivity (odds ratio per allele adjusted for age and matched on ethnic group = 6.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.3-30.3); this association was not found in women. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that CCR2-64I alleles may delay HIV disease progression without affecting susceptibility to infection among men. We did not observe this relation among women, and other factors, such as multiple pregnancies or maternal stressors (eg, breastfeeding), may have masked any protective effect of CCR2-64I alleles. Further study of this issue among women is warranted. SDF1-3'A did not differ between HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative individuals but was associated with increasing age among HIV-seronegative women, suggesting a protective effect against HIV-1 infection.     

辅助受体CCR5、CCR2及细胞趋化因子SDF1基因多态性与HIV-1异性传播的关系

目的 进一步阐述CCR5、CCR2和SDFl基因多态性与HIV-1异性传播的关系。方法 通过PCR／RFLP技术分析CCR5、CCR2和SDF1基因的多态性，继而分析基因多态性与HIV-1异性传播的关系。结果 在收集到的70对异性配对病例中，未能在汉族人群发现CCR5基因缺失突变，维吾尔族人CCR5Δ32基因频率为6．5％(6／92)，未发现纯合突变。有暴露史而未感染HIV-1者CCR2-64I基因频率明显高于受暴露后感染病毒者，说明CCR2-64I对异性传播可能具有一定保护作用。对SDFl基因的多态性研究发现，将病毒传播给配偶的指标病例(先感染：HIV-1一方)SDF-3′A的基因频率高于未发生传播者(较接近于统计学检验水准)，SDFl-3′A似乎是危险因素。结论 CCR5Δ32对汉族人群的HIV-1异性传播无明显意义，CCR2-64I对HIV-1异性传播可能具有一定的保护作用，而SDFl-3′A则有可能是危险因素，但有必要扩大样本量对后二者作进一步的深入研究。     

Distribution of two HIV-1-resistant polymorphisms (SDF1-3′A and CCR2-64I alleles) in the Polish population

Chemokine receptors (CCR2 and CXCR4) are used as coreceptors for entry of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) into the target cells. Mutations in CCR2 (CCR2-64I) and stromal-derived factor SDF1 (SDF1-3′A), the primary ligand for CXCR4, exhibited a protective effect against the onset of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The frequency of the SDF1-3′A and CCR2-64I alleles were determined in blood donors from 16 provinces, covering the entire territory of Poland. Of 1063 individuals, 274 (25.8%) were carriers of the SDF1-3′A allele; 36 of them (3.4%) were homozygotes (SDF-3′A/A) while 238 (22.4%) were heterozygotes (SDF-3′G/A), resulting in a 14.6% frequency of the SDF1-3′A allele. Moreover, in the same group of individuals, 234 (22.0%) carried the CCR2-64I allele; 6 of them (0.6%) were homozygotes (CCR2-64I/I), and 228 (21.4%) were heterozygotes (CCR2-64V/I), resulting in an 11.3% frequency of the CCR2-64I allele. The highest frequencies of the SDF1-3′A allele were found in the northeastern provinces and in one of the western provinces of Poland. In contrast, allelic frequencies of CCR2-64I varied slightly among different provinces. The different pattern of prevalence of the SDF1-3′A and CCR2-64I alleles in Poland might suggest that the CCR2-64I allele was spread much earlier than the SDF1-3′A allele in the population of Poland. Received: March 25, 2002 / Accepted: July 29, 2002 Acknowledgments We thank the directors of the Transfusion Centers from the 16 administrative provinces of Poland for providing venous blood samples. This research was supported by grant no. 6PO5B09221 from the State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN) and grant no. 501-1-08-05 from K. Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Poznań. Correspondence to:P.P. Jagodzinski     

Population survey of CCR5 delta32, CCR5 m303, CCR2b 64I,and SDF1 3'A allele frequencies in indigenous Chinese healthy individuals,and in HIV-1-infected and HIV-1-uninfected individuals in HIV-1 risk groups

The aim of this study is to determine in indigenous Chinese ethnic groups the frequencies of the chemokine (SDF1 3'A) and chemokine receptors (CCR5 delta32, CCR5 m303, and CCR2b 64I) HIV-1/AIDS restriction alleles. The study includes two cohorts; the first comprised 3165 indigenous healthy subjects representing eight ethnic groups: Han (n = 1406), Uygur (n = 316), Mongolia (n = 134), Hui (n = 386), Tibetan (n = 330), Zhuang (n = 378), Dai (n = 101), and Jingbo (n =114). The second cohort consisted of 330 HIV-1-infected (86 subjects infected by sexual transmission and 198 subjects infected by HIV-1-contaminated blood or by sharing injection equipment; the remaining 46 subjects said nothing about HIV-1 transmission) and 474 HIV-1-uninfected Han Chinese belonging to one of two HIV-1 high-risk groups: intravenous drug users (n = 215) and individuals with sexually transmitted diseases (n = 259). Genotypes for the four genes were obtained using PCR (CCR5 delta32) or PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Randomly selected amplified PCR products were further confirmed by direct DNA sequencing. The variant allele frequencies were determined to be 0% to 3.48% for CCR5 delta32, 0% for CCR5 m303, 16.23% to 28.79% for CCR2b 64I, and 17.70% to 27.76% for SDF1 3'A in Chinese healthy individuals from eight ethnic groups. These findings show that allele frequencies differ among the eight Chinese ethnic groups for CCR5 delta32, CCR2b 64I, and SDF1 3'A and that the CCR5 m303 and CCR5 delta32 mutant alleles were absent or infrequent in Chinese, which may be helpful for studies of specific anti-HIV-1 vaccine trials and coreceptor inhibitor drug targets in Chinese populations. Furthermore, we observed no significant differences in allele or genotypic frequencies between HIV-1-infected and HIV-1-uninfected groups from the Han ethnic group. Our finding is the first reporting that there is likely no effect of the examined polymorphisms in our study on HIV-1 transmission in the Chinese Han population, However, the genetic effects of these and other AIDS-modifying polymorphisms on the pathogenesis and clinical outcome of HIV-1/AIDS diseases is under investigation in Chinese populations.     

中国HIV-1感染疾病长期不进展者CCR2-64I、SDF1-3′A和CCR5△32的基因变异研究

目的探讨CCR2-64I、SDF1-3′A、CCR5△32基因变异对中国HIV-1感染疾病长期不进展者(long-term nonprogressors,LTNPs)疾病进程的影响.方法收集17例中国HIV-1感染LTNPs和39例中国HIV-1感染疾病典型进展者(typical progressors,TPs)的抗凝全血标本,用全自动核酸提取仪提取基因组DNA,采用PCR/RFLP技术对CCR2、SDF1、CCR5基因进行检测分析.结果LTNP组的CCR2-64I、SDF1-3′A基因突变率分别为50%和62.5%,TP组的CCR2-64I和SDF1-3′A基因突变率分别为23.08%、33.33%,LTNP组CCR2-64I、SDF1-3′A基因突变率明显高于TP组(P＜0.05);LTNP组有1例CCR5△32杂合突变,未发现纯合变异,而TP组未发现CCR5△32突变.结论CCR2-64I、SDF1-3′A和CCR5△32基因突变可能是中国HIV-1感染者疾病长期不进展的保护性因素之一.     

中国HIV-1感染疾病长期不进展者CCR2-64I、SDF1-3’A和CCR5Δ32的基因变异研究

目的 探讨CCR2-641、SDF1-3’A、CCR5Δ32基因变异对中国HIV—1感染疾病长期不进展者（long-term nonprogressors，LTNPs）疾病进程的影响。方法 收集17例中国HIV-1感染LTNPs和39例中国HIV-1感染疾病典型进展者（typical progressors，TPs）的抗凝全血标本，用全自动核酸提取仪提取基因组DNA，采用PCR／RFLP技术对CCR2、SDF1、CCR5基因进行检测分析。结果 LTNP组的CCR2-64I、SDF1-3’A基因突变率分别为50％和62．5％，TP组的CCR2-64I和SDF1-3’A基因突变率分别为23．08％、33．33％，LTNP组CCR2—64I、SDF1-3’A基因突变率明显高于TP组（P〈0．05）；LTNP组有1例CCR5Δ32杂合突变，未发现纯合变异，而TP组未发现CCR5Δ32突变。结论 CCR2-64I、SDF1-3’A和CCR5Δ32基因突变可能是中国HIV-1感染者疾病长期不进展的保护性因素之一。     

CCR5△32、CCR5m303、CCR2-64I、SDF1-3''A基因多态性对中国HIV-1感染者预后的影响

目的研究CCR5A32、CCR5m303、CCR2-64I、SDF1—3’A基因多态性对中国HIV-1感染者预后的影响。方法对在深圳地区发现的HIV-1感染者进行流行病学调查，应用PCR／RFLP技术分析感染者CCR5G32、CCR5m303、CCR2-64I、SDF1-3’A4种基因的多态性，对部分人群进行HIV-1血浆病毒载量和CD4^＋细胞计数的检测，判断感染者的潜伏期，使用SPSS11．0统计软件分析基因多态性对感染者病毒载量和潜伏期的影响。结果在189例HIV-1感染者中没有发现CCR5A32和CCR5-m303突变基因型，SDF1—3’A的等位基因频率为26．14％，CCR2—64I的等位基因频率为19．82％。方差分析发现，CCR2-64I基因野生型与杂合型的两组HIV-1感染者人群病毒载量对数的大小差异无统计学意义（P=0．272），两组人群潜伏期的长短差异无统计学意义（P=0．662）。SDF1基因野牛型、杂合型和纯合型的3组HIV-1感染者人群病毒载量对数的大小差异有统计学意义（P=0．001），但3组人群潜伏期的长短差异无统计学意义（P=0．228）。结论CCR2-64I基因突变对中国汉族HIV-1感染者病毒载量没有明显影响，因而也不影响感染者的潜伏期。SDF1-3’A基因突变对于病毒载量有降低作用，但对延长感染者潜伏期可能没有作用。     

Coregulation of HIV-1 dependency factors in individuals heterozygous to the CCR5-delta32 deletion

Background

CCR5-delta32 heterozygous individuals are susceptible to HIV-1. However, it is not clear if there is a relevant protective effect against transmission and a beneficial effect in terms of HIV progression which cannot be attributed to CCR5 surface density alone. Therefore we investigated HIV-1 dependency factors (HDF) which might be differently regulated in CCR5 wild type (WT) and CCR5-delta32 heterozygous individuals.

Methods

We examined CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells derived from bone marrow samples from 19 healthy volunteers, 12 individuals with CCR5 WT and 7 with heterozygous CCR5-delta32 deletion. Samples were analyzed using a global gene expression oligonucleotide microarray (HG-U133plus 2.0, Affymetrix Inc.).

Results

A total of 205 genes were found with altered expression (3fold difference, present call rate of 75%, p?<?0.05) and 7 of these had a connection to HIV-1 pathogenesis. In 4 genes: TOP1, CXCR2, SREBF2, and TAP we found a different regulation which was consistent with a supposed beneficial effect for CCR5-delta32 heterozygotes.

Conclusion

The CCR5-delta32 deletion is associated with other HDFs in HIV-1 pathogenesis as a possible explanation for beneficial effects regarding the deletion leading to a variant expression profile in heterozygous carriers of this mutation.

     

Stromal cell-derived factor (SDF) 1-3'A polymorphism and sequences in Thais

Stromal cell derived factor (SDF) 1-3'A polymorphism in Thai subjects was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products using a restriction enzyme Msp 1 cleavage. The allelic frequency of SDF1-3'A in this population was 0.289. SDF1-3'A genotyping showed 9.52% SDF1-3'A/3'A, 38.89% SDF1-wt/3'A, and 51.59% SDF1-wt/wt. Two clones of Thai-SDF genes, BD41 and BD42, were isolated and sequenced. Wild type Thai-SDF1 (BD42), a 278 bp sequence was identically aligned to human pre B cell stimulating factor homoloque (SDF1-b) (GenBank accession number L-36033) from nucleotides 788 to 1,065. Homologous Thai SDF1-3'A (BD41), a 277 bp sequence differed by single nucleotide with adenine substitution to guanine at position 880 of the SDF1-b, is the first evidence of SDF1-3'A polymorphism in Thais.     

Causal pathways of the effects of age and the CCR5-Delta32, CCR2-64I, and SDF-1 3'A alleles on AIDS development

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the causal pathways by which age and the CCR5-Delta32, CCR2-64I, and SDF-1 3'A alleles influence progression to AIDS. DESIGN: Analysis of follow-up data from 2 cohort studies among homosexual men (n=400), having >10 years of follow-up. METHODS: The effects of the 4 cofactors on the CD4 and HIV-1 RNA trajectories after seroconversion were modeled in a random-effects model. A proportional hazards model was used to investigate their effect on the risk of AIDS after correction for CD4 cell count and RNA level. This approach allows investigation as to whether they influence AIDS progression by affecting CD4 count and RNA level or by other pathways. RESULTS: Persons of younger age or having the CCR2-64I or SDF-1 3'A mutation have significantly higher CD4 levels. Persons with the CCR5-Delta32 deletion or CCR2-64I mutation have significantly lower RNA levels. After correction for both CD4 count and RNA level, only the SDF-1 3'A mutation significantly increases the AIDS risk. CONCLUSIONS: Age and the CCR5-Delta32 deletion and CCR2-64I mutation influence AIDS progression by affecting CD4 and HIV-1 RNA. The SDF-1 3'A allele increases the AIDS risk, but this effect is countered by its effect on CD4 and HIV-1 RNA level.     

SDFl-3'A在云南11个少数民族群体中的分布

目的 为调查HIV-1感染相关等位基因SDF1-3'A在我国云南省11个少数民族群体中的频率和多态性分布.研究的人群包括599例中国少数民族群体个体(来自8个民族),他们均为健康无血缘关系个体.方法 从上述人群外周血中抽提基因组DNA,然后采用PCR和PCR-RFLP等方法进行基因分型.结果 411例是野生纯合子基因型,160例为杂合子基因型,28例为突变纯合子基因型.上述各群体等位基因型的分布符合Hardy-Weinberg平衡.11个民族群体的平均突变基因频率为0.176,等位基因频率范围分布在0.09～0.28之间,11个民族群体之间差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05).值得注意的是云南特有的独龙族突变基因频率最低为0.091.结论 单独从SDF1-3;A这一与艾滋病相关的遗传位点来分析,个体对于HIV病毒的抵抗保护性与目前中国人群艾滋病的流行病学状况并不一致.大部研究群体的突变基因频率均低于汉族群体,该突变基因在艾滋病发病过程中的影响值得进一步深入研究.     

Effect of CCR5-delta32 heterozygosity on the risk of perinatal HIV-1 infection: a meta-analysis

Several studies have investigated whether heterozygosity for a 32-basepair deletion in the CC chemokine receptor 5 gene (CCR5-Delta32 ) affects susceptibility to perinatal HIV-1 infection, but results have been inconclusive. We performed a meta-analysis of published data from 11 studies of HIV-1 perinatally exposed children who were genotyped for the CCR5-Delta32 polymorphism. The crude overall HIV-1 infection rates, by simple data pooling, were 20% (one of five) amongCCR5-Delta32 homozygote children, 39% (131 of 335) among CCR5-Delta32 heterozygote children, and 40% (1408 of 3526) among wild-type CCR5 homozygote children. Compared with wild-type homozygotes, the random effects risk ratio for heterozygotes was 1.04 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92-1.17) among all children (N = 3861) and 1.03 (95% CI, 0.90-1.17) among those of European descent (n = 2890). Results were similar when adjusted for the available data on the CCR2-641 polymorphism (n = 1542). The meta-analysis clarifies that perinatal infection is not significantly altered by heterozygosity for CCR5-Delta32 in the child.     

Distribution of HIV/AIDS protective SDF1, CCR5 and CCR2 gene variants within Cretan population.

An interesting finding in the epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is that certain mutations in genes coding for chemokine receptors and their ligands may confer resistance to HIV-1 infection and/or AIDS progression. The mutations most frequently studied are the CCR5-delta32, CCR2-64I and SDF1-3'A. We examined the frequency of the above polymorphisms within the Cretan population, evaluating their contribution to a protective genetic background against HIV infection and progression. Two hundred blood samples were recruited at random among prospective blood donors from Crete. Genotyping was initially performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. CCR2 and SDF-1 PCR-amplified genomic regions were further subjected to restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis for genotype determination. The CCR5-delta32 allele frequency among our study group was 3.25%, although no respective homozygous samples were detected. The screening for the CCR2-64I polymorphism yielded 39 heterozygous (19.5%) and 4 homozygous (2%) subjects, revealing a CCR2-64I allele frequency of 11.75%. Among our 200 PCR-RFLP analysed samples, 73 (36.5%) were found heterozygous and 23 (11.5%) homozygous for the SDF1-3'A mutant variant. The allele frequency of the above polymorphism reached 29.75%. The frequency of the CCR5-delta32 allele among our study population seems to be remarkably lower compared to previously reported frequencies in other Caucasian groups. However, the SDF1-3'A allele frequency shows significantly higher distribution profiles within our study group compared to those observed in other Caucasian-European populations. The indicated difference could be attributed to the increased homogeneity of our population, which is well balanced and dispersed over a small geographical area. Since this polymorphism is related with delayed progression from HIV infection to AIDS, it could be used for prognostic genotyping in HIV infected Cretan individuals.     

CCR5, RANTES and SDF-1 polymorphisms and mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission

Among 288 HIV-1-infected, breastfeeding women who received zidovudine prophylaxis and were followed with their infants in Nairobi, we found no associations between maternal genetic polymorphisms in CCR5 (59029G/A, 59353T/C, 59356T/C, 59402G/A), RANTES (-403G/A) and SDF-1 (3’801G/A) and mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission; plasma, cervical and breastmilk viral loads; or breastmilk chemokine concentrations.     

Distribution of human chemokine (C-X3-C) receptor 1 (CX3CR1) gene polymorphisms and haplotypes of the CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) promoter in Chinese people, and the effects of CCR5 haplotypes on CCR5 expression

Two chemokine (C-X3-C) receptor 1 (CX3CR1) gene polymorphisms, V249I and T280M, and 10 CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) promoter haplotypes, P1-P10, have recently been reported to influence the progression of acquired immune-deficiency syndrome (AIDS). As these studies were performed mainly with Caucasian and African-American subjects, we determined the distribution of these alleles in Chinese people for the purpose of predicting possible clinical responses to the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) epidemics in countries with significant Chinese populations, as well as to establish their effects on the expression of surface CCR5. Ninety-six HIV-negative Chinese individuals in Taiwan were subjected to genotyping, and we thus determined that the allelic frequencies of CX3CR1V249I and T280M changes were 2.6% and 2.1%, respectively, which were lower than found in Caucasians (25.5% and 14.0%, respectively). Unlike the previous reports, we only detected CCR5P1 and P4 haplotypes in Taiwanese people, and the P1/P1, P1/P4 and P4/P4 genotype frequencies were 21.0%, 41.1% and 37.9%, respectively. The sequencing data confirmed the results of previous studies, showing that CCR5P1 exhibited a complete linkage disequilibrium with a polymorphic allele 59029A present in the CCR5 promoter. Furthermore, fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis revealed that, in the absence of the CCR2-64I mutation, individuals carrying CCR5P1 tended to express more surface CCR5 on monocytes and CD4+ cells. Therefore, this study not only reports the frequencies for the CX3CR1 and CCR5 promoter haplotypes in a Chinese population living in Taiwan, but also identifies a statistical link between the P1/P1 haplotype and the elevated CCR5 expression levels in the study group.     

Chemokines (RANTES and MCP-1) and chemokine-receptors (CCR2 and CCR5) gene polymorphisms in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex disorder characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, affecting about 5% of the population older than 65 years. Several works have demonstrated the involvement of inflammation in the pathogenesis of both, PD and LOAD. Genetic susceptibility to develop PD and LOAD has also been widely recognised. Thus, functional polymorphisms at the genes encoding inflammatory proteins could influence the overall risk of developing these neurodegenerative disorders.

We examined whether DNA-polymorphisms at the genes encoding chemokines MCP-1 (−2518 A/G) and RANTES (−403 A/G), and chemokine receptors 5 (CCR5, Δ32) and 2 (CCR2,V64I), were associated with the risk and/or the clinical outcome of LOAD and PD. A total of 200 PD, 326 LOAD, and 370 healthy controls were genotyped for the four polymorphisms, and genotype frequencies statistically compared.

We did not find significant differences in the frequencies of the different genotypes between both groups of patients and controls. We conclude that the four DNA polymorphisms, which have been associated with several immuno-modulated diseases, did not contribute to the risk of PD or LOAD.