A U.S. study suggested genetic factors in addition to viral load significantly influence the pace of human immunodeficiency virus disease.

Viral load -- the amount of virus in the blood of an HIV-infected person -- has long been viewed as the chief indicator of how quickly someone with HIV infection progresses to AIDS. The new data suggest other factors also significantly contribute to disease progression rates.

Researchers led by Dr. Sunil Ahuja of the University of Texas Health Science Center examined genetic information from more than 3,500 HIV-1 infected and uninfected individuals. They found people with specific combinations of two genes -- CCR5 and CCL3L1 -- were much more likely to have reduced immune responses and a greater decline in CD4 T cells, both hallmarks of progressive HIV disease.

They also found viral load contributed only 9 percent to the variability in rate of progression to AIDS; while variations in CCR5 and CCL3L1 combined accounted for 6 percent variability in AIDS progression rates.

The findings might have implications for the care of HIV-infected individuals in terms of being able to more effectively predict the course of HIV disease.

The study appears in the journal Nature Immunology. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International



Publication date: 24 October 2007   

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