Polymorphic variants of DC-SIGNR in injecting drug users from North India

Dendritic cells are professional antigen presenting cells that capture HIV-1 through DC-SIGN/DC-SIGNR. The repeat region polymorphism in the neck region of DC-SIGNR affects HIV-1 infection. This study aims at determining the frequency distribution of DC-SIGNR repeat region polymorphism in injecting drug users, patients infected with HIV-1 and healthy seronegative individuals and correlate with virological and immunological parameters. Blood from 100 healthy individuals, 100 injecting drug users and 100 patients infected with HIV-1 was collected. The repeat region polymorphism in DC-SIGNR was assessed by polymerase chain reaction. The frequency of heterozygous DC-SIGNR 7/5 genotype was significantly higher in injecting drug users, whereas the frequency of homozygous DC-SIGNR 7/7 genotype was significantly higher in patients infected with HIV-1. The heterozygosity (DC-SIGNR genotype 7/5) was associated significantly with high CD4+ T-cell count and low viral load compared to the homozygous DC-SIGNR 7/7 genotype in patients infected with HIV-1. A significantly high frequency of heterozygous DC-SIGNR genotype 7/5 in injecting drug users and its association with high CD4+T-cell count and low viral load in patients infected with HIV-1 suseests the protective role of this eenotvoe in HIV-1 infection.