HIV protection: CCR5-delta 32 gene frequencies

4 Comments

1. Richard Youatt August 2, 2020 Reply

   A very reasonable speculation. It would be great to have the pertinent data to answer it more empirically.
   The Indian sample was small…and does do not do justice to the huge regional and ethnic variations in India.

   The global distributions of ABO blood type (putting aside RH neg for a moment) are extremely uneven, and well documented in Mourant’s “Distribution of the human blood groups.” Published in 1954 but still illuminating.

   For me a key phrase in the Indian study is “The deletion (CCR5-delta 32) confers resistance to HIV-1”.

   If that principle is more universal (gene deletions have an impact on the immune system), then is it not fully plausible that the Rh Neg gene deletion follows that same principle?

2. Ken August 3, 2020 Reply

   definitely a Northern European & their descendants trait/mutation. i wonder if it’s recessive? maybe not or roughly equivalent?…whatever, sometimes it’s good to be in the minority/to be a minority.

• Mike DammannAuthor August 3, 2020 Reply

  The Delta 32 mutation indicates that a portion of the CCR5 gene is deleted. I am assuming it should be recessive.
  “In humans, the CCR5 gene that encodes the CCR5 protein is located on the short (p) arm at position 21 on chromosome 3. Certain populations have inherited the Delta 32 mutation, resulting in the genetic deletion of a portion of the CCR5 gene.”

• Ken August 3, 2020 Reply

  like the RhD neg gene deletion (which at least phenotypically affects red blood cells), the CCR5-delta32 gene deletion mutation affects a receptor on the surface of white blood cells & apparently more (i like the following site for data & it’s video on this currently, but obviously i need/want to study it much further) – here’s the link to the page & site of the quote that follows below: https://www.delta-32.com/ccr5-delta32.html

  “What is CCR5-delta32?
  Cysteine-cysteine chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is found in the cell membranes of many types of mammalian cells, including nerve cells and white blood cells. The role of CCR5 is to allow entry of chemokines into the cell—chemokines are involved in signaling the body’s inflammation response to injuries. The gene that codes for CCR5 is situated on human chromosome 3. Various mutations of the CCR5 gene are known that result in damage to the expressed receptor. One of the mutant forms of the gene is CCR5-delta32, which results from deletion of a particular sequence of 32 base-pairs. This mutant form of the gene results in a receptor so damaged that it no longer functions. But surprisingly, this does not appear to be harmful.”

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