ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the role of mannose-binding lectin (MBL) in the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection analyzing polymorphisms located at the MBL2 promoter and exon 1 regions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The prevalence of MBL2 variant alleles was investigated in 410 HIV-1-infected patients from the South Brazilian HIV cohort and in 345 unexposed uninfected healthy individuals. The promoter variants were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) and exon 1 variants were analyzed by real-time PCR using a melting temperature assay and were confirmed by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). MBL2 genotypic and allelic frequencies were compared between HIV-1-infected patients and controls using the chi-squared tests. RESULTS: The analyses were performed subdividing the individuals according to their ethnic origin. Among Euro-derived individuals a higher frequency of the LX/LX genotype was observed in patients when compared to controls (P < 0.001). The haplotypic analysis also showed a higher frequency of the haplotypes associated with lower MBL levels among HIV-1-infected patients (P = 0.0001). Among Afro-derived individuals the frequencies of LY/LY and HY/HY genotypes were higher in patients when compared to controls (P = 0.009 and P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: An increased frequency of MBL2 genotypes associated with low MBL levels was observed in Euro-derived patients, suggesting a potential role for MBL in the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection in Euro-derived individuals.
Subject(s)
Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics , HIV Infections/genetics , HIV-1 , Mannose-Binding Lectin/genetics , Promoter Regions, Genetic/genetics , Adult , Aged , Brazil/epidemiology , Female , HIV Infections/epidemiology , HIV Infections/immunology , Humans , Lectins, C-Type/genetics , Lectins, C-Type/immunology , Male , Mannose Receptor , Mannose-Binding Lectin/immunology , Mannose-Binding Lectins/genetics , Mannose-Binding Lectins/immunology , Middle Aged , Polymorphism, Genetic , Receptors, Cell Surface/genetics , Receptors, Cell Surface/immunology , Young AdultABSTRACT
PROBLEM: Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is involved in the maintenance of an inflammatory environment in uterus. High MBL levels have been associated with successful pregnancies whereas low levels are involved in pre-eclampsia (PE) development. Here, we evaluated MBL2 gene polymorphisms in the structural and promoter regions addressing their association with PE. METHOD OF STUDY: DNA samples from 162 control pregnant women and 157 pregnant PE women were genotyped and data compared with demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: High frequency of C and D alleles (related to low MBL levels) was observed in PE women when compared to controls (C: 0.08 versus 0.03, P = 0.006; D: 0.10 versus 0.05, P = 0.009). Grouping the MBL genotypes according to phenotype, a higher frequency of OO genotype was observed in PE women when compared to control women (0.15 versus 0.04, P = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that women with genotypes associated with low MBL levels could be potential PE developers.
