PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Clinical significance of the CCR5delta32 allele in hepatitis C.

  • Isabelle Morard,
  • Sophie Clément,
  • Alexandra Calmy,
  • Alessandra Mangia,
  • Andrea Cerny,
  • Andrea De Gottardi,
  • Meri Gorgievski,
  • Markus Heim,
  • Raffaele Malinverni,
  • Darius Moradpour,
  • Beat Müllhaupt,
  • David Semela,
  • Stéphanie Pascarella,
  • Pierre-Yves Bochud,
  • Franco Negro,
  • Swiss Hepatitis C Cohort Study Group

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0106424
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 9
p. e106424

Abstract

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BACKGROUND:The CCR5 receptor, expressed on Th1 cells, may influence clinical outcomes of HCV infection. We explored a possible link between a CCR5 32-base deletion (CCR5delta32), resulting in the expression of a non-functioning receptor, and clinical outcomes of HCV infection. METHODS:CCR5 and HCV-related phenotypes were analysed in 1,290 chronically infected patients and 160 patients with spontaneous clearance. RESULTS:Carriage of the CCR5delta32 allele was observed in 11% of spontaneous clearers compared to 17% of chronically infected patients (OR = 0.59, 95% CI interval 0.35-0.99, P = 0.047). Carriage of this allele also tended to be observed more frequently among patients with liver inflammation (19%) compared to those without inflammation (15%, OR = 1.38, 95% CI interval 0.99-1.95, P = 0.06). The CCR5delta32 was not associated with sustained virological response (P = 0.6), fibrosis stage (P = 0.8), or fibrosis progression rate (P = 0.4). CONCLUSIONS:The CCR5delta32 allele appears to be associated with a decreased rate of spontaneous HCV eradication, but not with hepatitis progression or response to antiviral therapy.