Zeitschrift für AIDS und klinische Forschung

Impact of Cytokine Gene Polymorphism on the HIV-1 Disease Progression and Response to Therapy

Abstract

Sukhvinder Singh and Sunil K Arora

Inter-individual variations in HIV infection outcome indicate a role of host genetic variations in the HIV disease progression and response to therapy. Cytokines are early key players in HIV infection, which influence the infection outcome by regulating viral replication, persistence and eradication of its reservoirs as well as host immune response. Genetic variations in cytokine genes can alter protein expression resulting in differential infection outcome. In this review we have summarized the available literature on cytokine and receptor variations in HIV infection outcome and response to therapy. A better understanding of cytokine genetic variation in HIV disease progression and response to therapy will help clinicians in better management of HIV infected individuals.