CONTRIBUTION OF THE CCR5 AND MBL GENES TO SUSCEPTIBILITY TO HIV TYPE-1 INFECTION IN THE FINNISH POPULATION

Homozygosity for a variant of a chemokine receptor gene (CCR5) has bee n shown to protect from HIV-1 infection. Variants of the mannose-bindi ng lectin (MBL) gene have been suggested to predispose to HIV-1 infect ion. These genetic variants and their possible role in susceptibility to HIV-1 infection were studied in sample material from more than 300 Finnish HIV-infected and control individuals. The genotyping was carri ed out efficiently using a novel, primer extension assay in a miniatur ized oligonucleotide array format. Homozygotes for the protective dele tion allele of the CCR5 gene were found only in the control group, and the frequency of the allele was high in the Finnish population. Homoz ygosity for the MBL, variant alleles was enriched significantly in the HIV-1-infected group, thus providing further evidence for the harmful ness of MBL variant homozygosity in HIV-1 transmission.