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It has been reported that the CCR5-Delta32, CCR2-64I and SDF1-3'A polymorphisms have protective effects against HIV-1 infection and can delay the progression of AIDS in European populations. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations of the three loci with HIV-1 infection and the progression of AIDS in the Han population of northern China. We recruited 78 HIV-1-seropositive individuals and 70 population-matched healthy controls from north China. PCR-RFLP was used to genotype these three polymorphisms in all samples. There were no significant differences in the frequencies of any allele between HIV-1-seropositive individuals and healthy controls. In cases, the associations between the three loci and CD4(+) T-lymphocyte counts were not significant; however, there was a significant association between the genotype frequency of CCR2-64I and clinical category (P < 0.05). We have identified a potentially important role of CCR2-64I allele in AIDS progression in the northern Chinese population. Further studies are necessary to clarify the contribution of the CCR2-64I allele to the progression of AIDS for the relatively small sample size.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk of HIV infection. The APOBEC3G (apolipoprotein B mRNA editing catalytic polypeptide 3G) protein is a component of innate antiviral immunity that inhibits HIV-1 replication. In the present study, a total of 483 HIV-1 seropositive men and 493 HIV-1 seronegative men were selected to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the APOBEC3G gene and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection and AIDS progression among MSM residing in northern China. Genotyping of four SNPs (rs5757465, rs3736685, rs8177832, and rs2899313) of the APOBEC3G was performed using the SNPscan™ Kit, while the rs2294367 polymorphism was genotyped using the SNaPshot multiplex system. Our results disclosed no association between the SNPs of APOBEC3G and susceptibility to HIV-1, or effects of these polymorphisms on the CD4 T cell count or clinical phase of disease. A meta-analysis of 1624 men with HIV-1 infection and 1523 controls suggested that the association between rs8177832 and susceptibility was not significant. However, we observed a trend towards association with HIV-1 infection for haplotype TTACA ( p = 0.082). The potential role of variants of APOBEC3G in HIV-1/AIDS warrants further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]