CCR-5 Delta 32 Heterozygosity May Slow Progression of HIV Disease

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

CCR-5 Delta 32 Heterozygosity May Slow Progression of HIV Disease

Reuters Health Information Services (12/23/97)

Abstract: Dr. Graeme Stewart of Westmead Hospital in New South Wales and colleagues compared the presence of CCR-5 delta 32 mutations, CD4 and CD8 counts, plasma HIV-1 RNA, p24 antigen, and beta-2- microglobulin levels in HIV-positive long-term nonprogressors (LTNP) with that of HIV-positive patients who progressed rapidly and HIV-positive patients with less than 500 CD4 cells per mL. The team detected CCR-5 delta-32 heterozygosity in 35.9 percent of the LTNP group, but only 12 percent of the other two groups demonstrated such heterozygosity; the LTNP group also had higher CD4 and CD8 counts than the other groups. The researchers, however, did not find any significant correlation in the LTNP group between heterozygosity and CD4 count, viral load, p24 antigen, or beta-1-microglobulin. Based upon these findings, the team reports in the December issue of AIDS that the higher CD8 counts in LTNP is of particular importance because these T cells produce soluble factors capable of suppressing HIV replication in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which may offer therapeutic implications for HIV infection.

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