Copy number variation in the CCL4L gene is associated with susceptibility to acute rejection in lung transplantation

Lung transplantation (LT) has become an accepted therapy for selected patients with advanced lung disease. One of the main limitations to successful LT is rejection of the transplanted organ where chemokines are pivotal mediators. Here, we test the relationship between copy number variation (CNV) in the CCL4L chemokine gene and rejection risk in LT patients ( n =161). Patients with no acute rejection showed a significantly lower mean number of CCL4L copies than patients that showed acute rejection (1.66 vs 1.96, P =0.014), with an even greater number of gene copies seen in patients with more than one episode of acute rejection (1.66 vs 2.30, P =0.001). Additionally, patients with ⩾2 CCL4L copies had a significantly higher risk of acute rejection compared with patients that had 0–1 CCL4L copies (odds ratio 2.65; 95% confidence interval, 1.33–5.28; P =0.0046). A combined analysis of CCL4L CNV and the rs4796195 CCL4L single nucleotide polymorphism demonstrated that the effect of CCL4L copy number in acute rejection is mainly because of the number of copies of the CCL4L1 allelic variant. This finding constitutes the first report of CNV as a correlate factor in allograft rejection.