Interleukin 28B rs12979860 genotype and Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1: Susceptibility, AIDS development and therapeutic outcome

Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection and progression varies widely among individuals. Interferon-λ3 exerts anti-HIV function by activating JAK/STAT pathway-mediated innate immunity. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms of the interleukin 28B (IL28B) gene, and the risk of acquisition, AIDS development and therapeutic outcome of HIV-1 in a Moroccan population. A total of 266 HIV-1 seropositive and 158 HIV-1 seronegative subjects were enrolled. Genotyping of rs12979860 of the IL28B was performed using a predesigned TaqMan SNP genotyping assay. No significant association was found between IL28B rs12979860 polymorphism and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection and AIDS development (p > .05). However, in HIV-1 treated patients carrying CC genotype had a more pronounced high levels of CD4+ T-cell compared to subjects with TT genotype (p = .0004). Interestingly, regarding HIV-1 viral load no significant differences between IL28B genotypes in treated and untreated patients were observed (p