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During the asymptomatic stages of HIV infection, some individuals have high levels of circulating virus, whereas others will have much lower levels; the difference can vary by 4 to 5 logs. Which human genetic factors contribute to this difference has been unclear.
Using a computerized algorithm, multinational investigators screened 30,000 patients to find those most appropriate for the analysis. They identified 486 who met the criteria for a stable and accurately measured viral load (set point). Subject DNA underwent genotyping by microarray containing 555,352 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These genotypes were compared to the set-point phenotype.
Two independent groups of polymorphisms, associated with HLA loci B and C, were found t…