Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Oct 1;210(7):1083-9.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiu226. Epub 2014 Apr 15.

HLA and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors influence the natural course of CMV infection

Danilo Di Bona  1 , Valeria Scafidi  2 , Antonella Plaia  3 , Claudia Colomba  4 , Domenico Nuzzo  2 , Cecilia Occhino  5 , Antonino Tuttolomondo  6 , Giovanni Giammanco  4 , Simona De Grazia  4 , Giuseppe Montalto  6 , Giovanni Duro  2 , Marco Cippitelli  7 , Calogero Caruso  1
Affiliations

HLA and killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors influence the natural course of CMV infection

Danilo Di Bona et al. J Infect Dis. .

Abstract

Background: Natural killer (NK) cells provide a major defense against cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection through the interaction of their surface receptors, including the activating and inhibitory killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs), and human leukocyte antigens (HLA) class I molecules. This study assessed whether the KIR and HLA repertoire may influence the risk of developing symptomatic or asymptomatic disease after primary CMV infection in the immunocompetent host.

Methods: Sixty immunocompetent patients with primary symptomatic CMV infection were genotyped for KIR and their HLA ligands, along with 60 subjects with a previous asymptomatic infection as controls.

Results: The frequency of the homozygous A haplotype (only KIR2DS4 as activating KIR) was higher in symptomatic patients than controls (30% vs 12%, respectively; odds ratio [OR] = 3.24; P = .01). By logistic regression, the risk of developing symptomatic disease was associated with the homozygous A haplotype and the HLABw4(T) allele. Combining the 2 independent variables, we found that 37 out of 60 (62%) symptomatic patients but only 18 out of 60 (30%) of controls possessed the homozygous A haplotype or the HLABw4(T) allele with a highly significant OR (OR = 3.75, P < .0005).

Conclusions: Immunocompetent subjects carrying the homozygous A haplotype or the HLABw4(T) allele are at higher risk of developing symptomatic disease after primary CMV infection.

Keywords: HLA; KIR; cytomegalovirus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances