Group specific component (Gc) and HIV diseases

A previous report suggested a relationship between particular phenotypes of group specific component (Gc), and susceptibility or resistance to HIV infection, whereas other recent investigations failed to corroborate this finding. The present study demonstrated that Gc allele frequencies in white homosexual men corresponded to those expected, regardless of HIV serology and related disease. Assignment of phenotype was not influenced by Gc complexing secondary to tissue damage, or the process of infection per se. However, Gc allele frequencies in black patients with AIDS were significantly different from those in black control subjects, suggesting that the previously observed results might be in part explicable on the basis of gene admixture in ethnically mixed populations.