HLA class I alleles associated with susceptibility or resistance to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection among a population in Chaco Province, Argentina

Host genetic factors, such as HLA alleles, are important in human immunodef iciency virus (HIV) infection and its progression to AIDS. HLA class I gene products are involved in peptide presentation, and each allele is responsi ble for presenting a different set of peptides to cytotoxic T lymphocytes, The increase or decrease in the frequency of certain alleles in HIV-1-posit ive versus control subjects would suggest that alleles play a role in susce ptibility to or protection against this viral infection. In the present stu dy, 56 HIV-1-positive patients in Chaco Province, Argentina, were typed for the HLA-A and HLA-B loci, using polymerase chain reaction and sequence-spe cific oligonucleotide probes. The frequency of alleles A*24, B*18, and B*39 was increased in HIV-1-positive subjects, suggesting that these alleles pl ay a role in susceptibility to HIV-1 infection. Alleles B*44 and B*55 were not found in HIV-1-positive subjects, suggesting that they have a protectiv e effect against the disease. The P values of the alleles B*39 and B*44 wer e statistically significant (P < .05).