PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Genetic variation in iron metabolism is associated with neuropathic pain and pain severity in HIV-infected patients on antiretroviral therapy.

  • Asha R Kallianpur,
  • Peilin Jia,
  • Ronald J Ellis,
  • Zhongming Zhao,
  • Cinnamon Bloss,
  • Wanqing Wen,
  • Christina M Marra,
  • Todd Hulgan,
  • David M Simpson,
  • Susan Morgello,
  • Justin C McArthur,
  • David B Clifford,
  • Ann C Collier,
  • Benjamin B Gelman,
  • J Allen McCutchan,
  • Donald Franklin,
  • David C Samuels,
  • Debralee Rosario,
  • Emily Holzinger,
  • Deborah G Murdock,
  • Scott Letendre,
  • Igor Grant,
  • CHARTER Study Group

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103123
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 8
p. e103123

Abstract

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HIV sensory neuropathy and distal neuropathic pain (DNP) are common, disabling complications associated with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). We previously associated iron-regulatory genetic polymorphisms with a reduced risk of HIV sensory neuropathy during more neurotoxic types of cART. We here evaluated the impact of polymorphisms in 19 iron-regulatory genes on DNP in 560 HIV-infected subjects from a prospective, observational study, who underwent neurological examinations to ascertain peripheral neuropathy and structured interviews to ascertain DNP. Genotype-DNP associations were explored by logistic regression and permutation-based analytical methods. Among 559 evaluable subjects, 331 (59%) developed HIV-SN, and 168 (30%) reported DNP. Fifteen polymorphisms in 8 genes (p<0.05) and 5 variants in 4 genes (p<0.01) were nominally associated with DNP: polymorphisms in TF, TFRC, BMP6, ACO1, SLC11A2, and FXN conferred reduced risk (adjusted odds ratios [ORs] ranging from 0.2 to 0.7, all p<0.05); other variants in TF, CP, ACO1, BMP6, and B2M conferred increased risk (ORs ranging from 1.3 to 3.1, all p<0.05). Risks associated with some variants were statistically significant either in black or white subgroups but were consistent in direction. ACO1 rs2026739 remained significantly associated with DNP in whites (permutation p<0.0001) after correction for multiple tests. Several of the same iron-regulatory-gene polymorphisms, including ACO1 rs2026739, were also associated with severity of DNP (all p<0.05). Common polymorphisms in iron-management genes are associated with DNP and with DNP severity in HIV-infected persons receiving cART. Consistent risk estimates across population subgroups and persistence of the ACO1 rs2026739 association after adjustment for multiple testing suggest that genetic variation in iron-regulation and transport modulates susceptibility to DNP.