Distribution of HIV-1 resistant polymorphisms among HIV infected patients in Georgia

Host genetic factors are believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis and natural history of HIV disease along with determining the rate and severity of HIV epidemic in a particular country. CCR5, CCR2 and SDF1 genes are known to influence the susceptibility to HIV-1 infection and to be involved in the rate of disease progression. Unlike CCR5 Delta32 mutation, mutations in CCR2-64I and SDF1-3A do not provide full protection against HIV-1 acquisition, however, they are believed to delay the onset of AIDS defining illness. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of host genetic factors among HIV infected patients in Georgia in order to define the correlations between CCR5Delta32, CCR-64I and SDF1-3A genotypes and HIV disease progression in our country. 120 HIV infected individuals were enrolled in the study. Mutations were detected by the polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism method. We have studied the DNA polymorphisms at the loci that encode these proteins in 120 HIV infected individuals. As expected, no CCR5 homozygous 32 base pair mutation was found among HIV infected persons, however 6 heterozygous patients produced allele frequency 2.5%. Allele frequency of CCR2 and SDF1 allele was equal to 10.75% and 32% respectively. The overall frequency of CCR2 and CCR5 mutations is comparable to their frequency among European populations. However, to our knowledge, the frequency of SDF1-3A allele frequency in Georgians is higher than has been reported in European countries. We found a delay in the progression of HIV infection among persons who were between heterozygous for the CCR5 Delta32 mutation. In order to explore the impact of host genetic factors on the HIV epidemic in Georgia, host genetic studies involving different groups would be of interest.