Abstract
BackgroundHuman leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules play a key role in the cellular immune system. They may be determinants of mother-to-child transmission which is the driving force in pediatric HIV infection. We intended to look at the impact of the distribution of these polymorphic HLA genes in the mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV in Cameroon.MethodsA total of 156 mother-baby pairs were enrolled in three hospitals of Yaounde, capital of Cameroon. After the extraction of the DNA from blood samples using the Qiagen Kit as per manufacturer’ instructions, the polymorphism of the HLA class 1 ABC was determined using the PCR- sequence specific primers assay.ResultsThe distribution of HLA class 1 revealed that none of the allele studied was associated with transmitters or non-transmitters, so was not implicated in transmission. The regression analysis showed that HLA A*32 [OR 0.062 (CI; 0.0075 to 0.51)] is associated with HIV acquisition while HLA B*44 [OR 0.47 (CI; 0.21 to 1.14)] and HLA B*53 [OR; 0.14 (CI; 0.018 to 1.22)] were implicated in reducing the acquisition of HIV by infants. The homozygosity of locus C [OR 6.99 (CI; 1.81 to 26.88), p = 0.0027] was found as a risk factor for the acquisition, while the A*32-B*44 haplotype [OR 10.1 (CI 1.17 to 87.87), p = 0.03] was a risk factor for the transmission.ConclusionThis study has found that HLA A*32, B*44 and B*53 have an impact in MTCT outcomes. The homozygosity of locus C and the A*32-B*44 haplotype were risk factors for acquisition and transmission respectively.
Highlights
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules play a key role in the cellular immune system
HLA class 1 ABC genotypes in the study population The two images below (Fig. 1 (a) and (b)) illustrate the bands on the electrophoregrams obtained after the migration of a PCR amplification of one mother’ sample
From our analyses, maternal HLA alleles previously associated with vertical Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-1 transmission have different role than those of babies
Summary
Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules play a key role in the cellular immune system They may be determinants of mother-to-child transmission which is the driving force in pediatric HIV infection. The mother-to-child transmission (MTCT), the driving force of the pediatric infection can occurs in utero, intrapartum and postpartum. During these phases the immune system plays a role in reducing the viral load. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene called Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) in human plays the role of antigen presentation between the immune system response and the virus. This is the most polymorphic gene in human [4], and this polymorphism result in variability in antigen presentation to host lymphocytes
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