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Marie Nicole Ngoufack,1,2 Céline Nguefeu Nkenfou,2,3 Barbara Atogho Tiedeu,1 Linda Chapdeleine Mekue Mouafo,2,4 Beatrice Dambaya,2,5 Elvis Ndukong Ndzi,2,4 Charles Kouanfack,6 Georges Nguefack-Tsague,7 Wilfred Fon Mbacham,1 Alexis Ndjolo2 1Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon; 2Systems Biology, Chantal Biya’ International Reference Centre for Research on HIV and AIDS Prevention and Management (CBIRC), Yaoundé, Cameroon; 3Department of Biology, Higher Teachers’ Training College, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon; 4Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; 5Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon; 6Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; 7Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, CameroonCorrespondence: Céline Nguefeu NkenfouLaboratory of Systems Biology “Chantal Biya” International Reference Centre for Research on HIV and AIDS Prevention and Management (CBIRC), P.O. Box 3077, Messa, Yaoundé, CameroonTel +237 675 57 35 19Fax +237 222 3154 56Email nkenfou@yahoo.comBackground and objectives: The association of chemokine receptor-2 (CCR2) polymorphism with HIV transmission or disease progression remains highly controversial. The role of CCR2-64I allele in HIV infection may differ from one population to another because of their genetic background. The objectives of this study were to characterize the CCR2 genetic polymorphism and to determine its potential effect in HIV acquisition in children living in the Northern Region of Cameroon.Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in five health facilities in the Northern region of Cameroon. DNA was extracted from the Buffy coat of each participant using the QIAamp®DNA mini kit. The DNA extract was then subjected to polymorphic analyses. CCR2 genotypes were analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The Chi-Squared test was used for the assessment of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.Results: A total of 134 children under 15 years comprised of 38 HIV-exposed infected (28.36%) and 96 HIV-exposed un-infected (71.64%) participants were recruited. Prevalences of 44.78% wild type homozygous, 48.52% heterozygous and 6.7% mutant homozygous alleles were found in the overall population. An allelic frequency of 29.69% for the mutant allele CCR2-64I was found in HIV-exposed un-infected individuals as compared to 34.21% in HIV-infected children (p=0.47).Conclusion: The CCR2-64I allele is relatively common in the Northern Region of Cameroon, with a similar distribution among HIV-exposed un-infected and infected children. As this allele alone does not seem to confer protection against HIV-1 infection, further studies using genotype-combination of CCR2 polymorphism and other single nucleotide polymorphisms would be of great relevance in both HIV prevention and novel therapeutic strategies.Keywords: HIV acquisition, CCR2 gene, pediatric population

In order to estimate the distribution of certain polymorphisms of the CCR5, CCR2, apoE, p53, ITGB3, and HFE genes in Russian long livers from Western Siberia, a sample of 271 individuals (age range 90-105 years) has been examined. It was demonstrated that carriage of the polymorphisms Δ32 ( CCR5 gene), V64 I ( CCR2 gene), e2/ e3/ e4 ( apoE gene), and L33 P ( ITGB3 gene), as well as the H63 D and S65 C polymorphisms of the HFE gene, does not affect predisposition to longevity; carriage of the 282 Y allele of the HFE gene negatively affects longevity; carriage of the heterozygous genotype for the R72 P polymorphism of the p53 gene correlates with longevity of elderly people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This study was aimed to evaluate the distribution of CCR2-64I gene among the tribal and caste population of Vidarbha region. Materials and Methods: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR-RFLP) using specific primers followed by amplicon digestion by Bse BI restriction enzyme was used for CCR2-64I gene polymorphism analysis. Total of 108 samples from 6 tribes and a caste were analysed. Results: The genotyping for the CCR2-64I mutation among the selected tribe and a caste reveal that all of the tribes and a caste was found to be heterozygous for the CCR2-64I mutation. Among the tribes Gonds showed highest genotype frequency (29.28%) and (11.76%) for heterozygous (CCR2/64I) and Homozygous (64I/64I) respectively, having an allelic frequency (0.233). A pooled allelic frequencies of the wild-type allele CCR2 and CCR2 64I the variant were found to be 0.854 and 0.146, respectively. No significant deviations from the HWE were observed for tribes and a caste population for the CCR2- 64I mutant χ2=2.76. The study reports the presence of mutant CCR2- 64I gene in tribes and caste population from Vidarbha region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]