Important note: Information in this article was accurate in September 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date. |
AIDSWEEKLY Plus; Monday, September 1, 2003
Staff Medical Writers
"A polymorphism, -179G/T, in the promoter of the interferon (IFN)-gamma gene (IFNG) confers differential tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) inducibility to the IFNG promoter," scientists in the United States explained. "The rarer allele, -179T, but not -179G, is inducible by TNF-alpha."
In their study, P. An and coauthors working at the National Cancer Institute "investigated the effects of IFNG -179G/T on AIDS pathogenesis."
"In 298 African-American human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 seroconverters, the IFNG -179G/T genotype was associated with accelerated progression to CD4<200 and AIDS-1993, a finding suggesting that IFNG -179T is a risk factor for AIDS progression, as measured by CD4 cell count," they reported.
"It is possible that increased IFN-gamma production induced by TNF-alpha when -179T is present causes CD4 cell depletion by apoptosis," the researchers concluded.
An and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases (A tumor necrosis factor-alpha-inducible promoter variant of interferon-gamma accelerates CD4+ T cell depletion in human immunodeficiency virus-1-infected individuals. J Infect Dis. 2003 Jul 15;188(2):228-31.
For more information, contact C.A. Winkler, NCI, Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Basic Research Program, SAIC Frederick Inc., Bldg. 560, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
Publisher contact information for the Journal of Infectious Diseases is: University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637-2954, USA.
The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of AIDS & HIV, Genomics and Genetics and Immunology.
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
Reference
An P, Vlahov D, Margolick JB, et al., "A tumor necrosis factor-alpha-inducible promoter variant of interferon-gamma accelerates CD4+ T cell depletion in human immunodeficiency virus-1-infected individuals", J Infect Dis. 2003 Jul 15;188(2):228-31.
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