HIV in Africa (Communication arising): chemokine-receptor genes and AIDS risk

• Published in: Nature (London) 2002-05, Vol.417 (6885), p.140
• Main Authors: Ramaley, Patricia A, French, Neil, Kaleebu, Pontiano, Gilks, Charles, Whitworth, James, Hill, Adrian V S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - epidemiology; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - genetics; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - virology; Alleles; Black or African American; Black People - genetics; Disease Progression; Evolution, Molecular; Gene Frequency; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - genetics; Genetic Variation - genetics; Haplotypes - genetics; HIV-1 - classification; HIV-1 - isolation & purification; Humans; Linkage Disequilibrium - genetics; Models, Genetic; Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics; Receptors, CCR2; Receptors, CCR5 - genetics; Receptors, Chemokine - genetics; Regression Analysis; Selection, Genetic; Uganda - epidemiology; White People - genetics
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/417140a

Schliekelman et al. have provided a model to quantify the speed at which HIV-resistance haplotypes can become enriched in a susceptible population through a delay in the onset of AIDS, permitting greater lifetime reproduction and the selection of AIDS-delaying haplotypes. But we question their conclusion that there could be a rapid evolution of resistance to AIDS onset in some African populations if the current HIV epidemic persists, as this depends on an untested assumption: that variant forms of the chemokine-receptor-5 (CCR5) gene impart selective advantages or disadvantages in Africa that are comparable to those reported for African Americans. Here we test this premise in a large Ugandan population, and find that CCR5 variants are not associated with HIV/AIDS disease risk in Africa--the origin and centre of the current AIDS pandemic. This gene may therefore not be subject to rapid evolutionary change as a result of the HIV epidemic in Africa.