Impact of broad antigen HLA-Bw4 on HIV-1 disease progression / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the impact of broad antigen HLA-Bw4 on disease progression in HIV-1 infected subjects. Methods Three hundred and forty subjects chronically infected with HIV-1 and 69 HIV-1 negative subjects were recruited and HLA-B alleles were typed with sequence-based high resolution typing assay. HLA-Bw genotypes of these HIV-1 infected subjects were determined and their association with CD4+ T cell counts and viral loads were analyzed. Results Sixty-five HLA-B alleles were detected in HIV-1 positive subjects. Subjects with Bw4 (Bw4 homozygotes and Bw4Bw6 heterozygotes ) had higher CD4+ T cell counts ( P = 0. 004 ) and lower plasma viral load ( P = 0.003 ) than subjects without Bw4 ( Bw6 homozygotes). When compared with HIV-1 postive subjects with CD4+ T cell counts above 500 celis/μl, those with CD4+ T cell counts below 500 cells/μl were observed with decreased percentage of Bw4Bw6 heterozygote ( P =0.0002) and increased percentage of Bw6 homozygotes ( P < 0. 0001 ). There is no significant difference in CD4+ T cell counts between Bw4 homozygotes and Bw4Bw6 heterozygote, but lower viral loads were observed in Bw4Bw6 heterozygotes( P = 0. 037 ). Conclusion HLA-Bw4 can confer pretective effects on H1V-1 infected subjects by maintaining higher CD4+ T cell counts and lower viral load, the mechanism behind this effect need further exploration.