Abstract:
Metabolic disorders and hypersensitivities affect tolerability and impact
adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The aim of this study was to
determine the prevalence of C-482T/T-455C variants in the Apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3)
promoter gene and Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*57:01, known to impact lipid
metabolic disorders and hypersensitivity respectively; and to correlate genotypes with
gender, CD4+ cell count and viral load in an HIV infected cohort in northern South Africa.
Frequencies of C-482 and T-455 polymorphisms in APOC3 were determined by restriction
fragment length polymorphism analysis. Allele determination for HLA-B was performed
with Assign SBT software in an HLA library. Analysis of APOC3 C-482 site revealed a
prevalence of 196/199 (98.5%) for CC, 1/199 (0.5%) for CT and 2/199 (1.0%) for TT
genotype (p = 0.000 with 1° of freedom; χ2 = 126.551). For the T-455 site, prevalences
were: 69/199 (35%) for TT and 130/199 (65%) for the CC genotype (p = 0.000 with 1° of
freedom; χ2 = 199). There was no association between gender and the presence of −482
(p = 1; χ2 = 0.00001) or −455 genotypes (p = 0.1628; χ2 = 1.9842). There was no significant
difference in the increase in CD4+ cell count irrespective of genotypes. Significant
increases in CD4+ cell count were observed in males and females considering the −455C genotype, but not in males for the −455T genotype. Viral load decreases were significant
with the −455C and −482C genotypes irrespective of gender. HLA-B*57:01 was not
identified in the study cohort. The apparently high prevalence of APOC3 T-455CC
genotype needs confirmation with a larger samples size and triglyceride measurements to
support screening of patients to pre-empt HAART associated lipid disorders.
