Genetic variant linked to lower levels of HIV virus in people of African ancestry

An international team of researchers has found a genetic variant that may explain why some people of African ancestry have naturally lower viral loads of HIV, reducing their risk of transmitting the virus and slowing progress of their own illness.

Genetic variant linked to lower levels of HIV virus in people of African ancestry. Photo: jonrawlinson/flickr

HIV remains a major threat to global health. A combination of pre-exposure drugs and medicines that dramatically reduce viral loads has had a major impact on transmission, yet 1.5 million people were newly infected in 2021.

Viral load is the amount of a virus in a patient’s system. Higher levels are known to correlate with faster disease progression and increased risk of transmission.

But viral load varies widely among infected individuals, influenced by a number of factors including an individual’s genetic makeup.

Researchers analysed the DNA of almost 4,000 people of African ancestry living with HIV-1, the most common type of the virus.

They identified a variant within a region on chromosome 1 containing the gene CHD1L which was associated with reduced viral load in carriers of the variant.

Between 4% and 13 % of people of African origin are thought to carry this particular variant.

CHD1L is known to play a role in repairing damaged DNA, though it is not clear why the variant should be important in reducing viral load.

HIV turned out to replicate better in a type of immune cell known as a macrophage when CHD1L was switched off.

In another cell type, the T cell, there was no effect – perhaps surprising since most HIV replication occurs in the latter cell type.

This gene seems to be important to controlling viral load in people of African ancestry. (University of Cambridge)

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