Ethnic differences in the adaptation rate of HIV gp120 from a vaccine trial

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Differences in HIV-1 gp120 sequence variation were examined in North American volunteers who became infected during a phase III vaccine trial using the rgp120 vaccine. Molecular adaptation of the virus in vaccine and placebo recipients from different ethnic subgroups was compared by estimating the dN/dS ratios in viruses sampled from each individual using three different methods. ANOVA analyses detected significant differences in dN/dS ratios among races (P < 0.02). gp120 sequences from the black individuals showed higher mean dN/dS ratios for all estimators (1.24–1.45) than in other races (0.66–1.35), and several pairwise comparisons involving blacks remained significant (P < 0.05) after correction for multiple tests. In addition, black-placebo individuals showed significantly (P < 0.02) higher mean dN/dS ratios (1.3–1.66) than placebo individuals from the other races (0.65–1.56). These results suggest intrinsic differences among races in immune response and highlight the need for including multiple ethnicities in the design of future HIV-1 vaccine studies and trials.