Xu CH, Shen T, Zheng JJ, Tu J, Zhang WD, Lu FM. Higher dN/dS ratios in the HCV core gene, but not in the E1/HVR1 gene, are associated with human immunodeficiency virus-associated immunosuppression.
Arch Virol 2012;
157:2153-62. [PMID:
22825695 DOI:
10.1007/s00705-012-1390-z]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2011] [Accepted: 05/17/2012] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Coinfection with HCV and HIV is prevalent among former commercial blood donors in some rural areas in China. Genetic variability of the HCV core and E1/HVR1 was investigated in 23 patients chronically infected with HCV-1b, with or without concomitant HIV infection. Genetic variability in the core sequence was higher under HIV-associated immunocompromised conditions. Both the Shannon entropy values at each nucleotide position and the dN/dS values at each codon were statistically higher in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients with lower CD4+ T cell counts (p-values were <0.0001 and equal to 0.0372, respectively). The more significant difference of dN/dS value occurred in a specific subregion of the core gene that is enriched in CTL/Th epitopes (p = 0.0083). The dN/dS values of full-length core antigen were found to be negatively correlated with the S/CO ratio of plasma anti-HCV antibodies. By contrast, no significant difference in genetic diversity/complexity and dN/dS values in the E1/HVR1 region was found between those two groups. These results suggest that the dN/dS ratio in the core gene, but not in the E1/HVR1 gene, is influenced more by host CD4+ T cell-mediated cellular immunity.
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