Influence of Human Leukocyte Antigen–B22 Alleles on the Course of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection in 3 Cohorts of White Men

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases 2003-09, Vol.188 (6), p.856-863
• Main Authors: Dorak, M. Tevfik, Tang, Jianming, Tang, Shenghui, Penman-Aguilar, Ana, Coutinho, Roel A., Goedert, James J., Detels, Roger, Kaslow, Richard A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; AIDS; Alleles; Biological and medical sciences; Cohort Studies; Disease Progression; European Continental Ancestry Group; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Haplotypes; Histocompatibility Testing; HIV; HIV 1; HIV Infections - genetics; HIV Infections - physiopathology; HIV-1 - pathogenicity; HIV/AIDS; HLA antigens; HLA-B Antigens - genetics; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Proportional Hazards Models; RNA; RNA, Viral - blood; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the lymphoid tissue and the blood. Aids; Viral Load; Viruses
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1086/378071

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA)–B22 serogroup—which consists of the alleles B*54, B*55 and B*56—has been associated with rapidly progressive disease in white patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Subjects from 3 cohorts of men who have sex with men (N=671), all of whom experienced HIV-1 seroconversion at roughly the same time, were molecularly typed at HLA-A, -B and -C loci. Mean HIV RNA loads during early HIV infection were higher in B22-positive men than in B22-negative men (difference, 0.481 log10 HIV RNA copies/mL; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.156–0.806 log10 HIV RNA copies/mL; P=.004). Independent of accepted markers of progression, time-to-AIDS was shorter in B22-positive seroconverters (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.27–3.10; P=.003). White B22 serogroup alleles (B*55 and *56) appear to predispose to unfavorable outcome of HIV infection as strongly as some or all B*35 and B*53 alleles. This finding may have greater implications for Asians, because the marker frequency for B22 is higher among Asians than among whites (∼10% vs. ∼4%)