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Polymorphisms in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I loci are known to have a great impact on disease progression in HIV-1 infection. Prevailing HIV-1 subtypes and HLA genotype distribution are different all over the world, and the HIV-1 and host HLA interaction could be specific to individual areas. Data on the HIV-1 and HLA interaction have been accumulated in HIV-1 subtype B- and C-predominant populations but not fully obtained in West Africa where HIV-1 subtype CRF02_AG is predominant. In the present study, to obtain accurate HLA typing data for analysis of HLA association with disease progression in HIV-1 infection in West African populations, HLA class I (HLA-A, -B, and -C) four-digit allele typing was performed in treatment-naïve HIV-1 infected individuals in Ghana (n = 324) by a super high-resolution single-molecule sequence-based typing (SS-SBT) using next-generation sequencing. Comparison of the SS-SBT-based data with those obtained by a conventional sequencing-based typing (SBT) revealed incorrect assignment of several alleles by SBT. Indeed, HLA-A*23:17, HLA-B*07:06, HLA-C*07:18, and HLA-C*18:02 whose allele frequencies were 2.5%, 0.9%, 4.3%, and 3.7%, respectively, were not determined by SBT. Several HLA alleles were associated with clinical markers, viral load and CD4+ T-cell count. Of note, the impact of HLA-B*57:03 and HLA-B*58:01, known as protective alleles against HIV-1 subtype B and C infection, on clinical markers was not observed in our cohort. This study for the first time presents SS-SBT-based four-digit typing data on HLA-A, -B, and -C alleles in Ghana, describing impact of HLA on viral load and CD4 count in HIV-1 infection. Accumulation of these data would facilitate high-resolution HLA genotyping, contributing to our understanding of the HIV-1 and host HLA interaction in Ghana, West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV-1 infected individuals under antiretroviral therapy can control viremia but often develop non-AIDS diseases such as cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Gut microbiome dysbiosis has been indicated to be associated with progression of these diseases. Analyses of gut/fecal microbiome in individual regions are important for our understanding of pathogenesis in HIV-1 infections. However, data on gut/fecal microbiome has not yet been accumulated in West Africa. In the present study, we examined fecal microbiome compositions in HIV-1 infected adults in Ghana, where approximately two-thirds of infected adults are females. In a cross-sectional case-control study, age- and gender-matched HIV-1 infected adults (HIV+; n = 55) and seronegative controls (HIV-; n = 55) were enrolled. Alpha diversity of fecal microbiome in HIV+ was significantly reduced compared to HIV- and associated with CD4 counts. HIV+ showed reduction in varieties of bacteria including Faecalibacterium , the most abundant in seronegative controls, but enrichment of Proteobacteria. Ghanaian HIV+ exhibited enrichment of Dorea and Blautia ; bacteria groups whose depletion has been reported in HIV-1 infected individuals in several other cohorts. Furthermore, HIV+ in our cohort exhibited a depletion of Prevotella , a genus whose enrichment has recently been shown in men having sex with men (MSM) regardless of HIV-1 status. The present study revealed the characteristics of dysbiotic fecal microbiome in HIV-1 infected adults in Ghana, a representative of West African populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]