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Some subjects are repeatedly exposed to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), yet they remain uninfected. This suggests the existence of host-resistance mechanisms. The current study synthesizes the evidence regarding the association between interleukin (IL) gene polymorphisms and HIV susceptibility. Medline, Scopus and the Web of Science databases were systematically searched, and a meta-analysis of case-control studies was conducted. Univariate and bivariate methods were used. The literature search identified 42 eligible studies involving 15,727 subjects. Evidence was obtained on eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): IL1A -889 C>T (rs1800587), IL1B +3953/4 C>T (rs1143634), IL4 -589/90 C>T (rs2243250), IL6 -174 G>C (rs1800795), IL10 -592 C>A (rs1800872), IL10-1082 A>G (rs1800896), IL12B -1188 A>C (rs3212227) and IL28B C>T (rs12979860). The IL1B +3953/4 C>T variant appears to increase the risk of HIV acquisition, under the assumption of a recessive genetic model (odds ratio (OR): 4.47, 95% CI: 2.35-8.52). The AA homozygotes of the IL10 -592 C>A SNP had an increased, marginally nonsignificant, risk (OR: 1.39, 95% CI: 0.97-2.01). It reached, however, significance in sub analyses (OR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.04-2.12). Finally, the well-studied hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection IL28B (rs12979860) CT/TT genotypes were associated with a 27% decrease in HIV infection risk, especially in populations infected with HCV (OR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.57-0.95). Interleukin signalling is perhaps important in HIV infection and some interleukin genetic variants may affect the risk of HIV acquisition. Approaches targeting specific genes and genome wide association studies should be conducted to decipher the effect of these polymorphisms.

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to reassess the effectiveness of condoms in reducing heterosexual transmission of HIV., Methods: Medline, Scopus, and the ISI Web of Science databases were searched up to June 2014. Eligible studies were synthesized using random-effects models., Results: Twenty-five studies with 10,676 HIV serodiscordant heterosexual couples were analyzed. The risk of HIV transmission was considerably lower among couples that were always using condoms compared to never-users (RR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.20-0.43) or inconsistent users (RR:  0.23, 0.13-0.40). The protective effect was slightly higher when the male rather than the female partner was infected (RR: 0.31, 0.20-0.48; vs. RR: 0.44, 0.24-0.80), and very high in Asian settings (RR: 0.06, 0.01-0.46)., Conclusions: Though imperfect, condoms reduce HIV transmission by more than 70% when used consistently by HIV serodiscordant heterosexual couples. Social, cultural and biological differences need to be studied further to inform projection modelers and policy makers.

Background: The circulating levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) are increased in individuals carrying the 4G allele at position -675 of the PAI-1 gene. In turn, overexpression of PAI-1 has been found to affect both atheroma and thrombosis. However, the association between PAI-1 levels and the incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) is complicated by the potentially confounding effects of well-known cardiovascular risk factors. The current study tried to investigate in parallel the association of PAI-1 activity with the PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism, with MI, and some components of metabolic syndrome (MetS)., Methods: Using meta-analytical Mendelian randomization approaches, genotype-disease and genotype-phenotype associations were modeled simultaneously., Results: According to an additive model of inheritance and the Mendelian randomization approach, the MI-related odd ratio for individuals carrying the 4G allele was 1.088 with 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.007, 1.175. Moreover, the 4G carriers had, on average, higher PAI-1 activity than 5G carriers by 1.136 units (95% CI 0.738, 1.533). The meta-regression analyses showed that the levels of triglycerides (p=0.005), cholesterol (p=0.037) and PAI-1 (p=0.021) in controls were associated with the MI risk conferred by the 4G carriers., Conclusions: The Mendelian randomization meta-analysis confirmed previous knowledge that the PAI-1 4G allele slightly increases the risk for MI. In addition, it supports the notion that PAI-1 activity and established cardiovascular determinants, such as cholesterol and triglyceride levels, could lie in the etiological pathway from PAI-1 4G allele to the occurrence of MI. Further research is warranted to elucidate these interactions.

Co-infection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is rather common. In the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), viral hepatitis could result in adverse outcomes in HIV+ patients. The current meta-analysis aims to evaluate the impact of HCV on immunological and virological responses after HAART initiation in HIV/HCV co-infected individuals by synthesizing the existing scientific evidence. A comprehensive search of electronic databases was performed. Eligible studies were analysed using univariate and multivariate meta-analytic methods. Totally, 21 studies involving 22533 individuals were eligible. The estimated summary difference in CD4 cell counts increase between HIV and HIV/HCV co-infected subjects after 3-12 months on HAART was 34.86 cells/mm(3) [95% confidence interval (CI): 16.82-52.89]. The difference was more prominent in patients with baseline CD4 counts below 350 cells/mm(3) (38.97, 95% CI: 20.00-57.93) and attenuated 2 years later (13.43, 95% CI: 0.83-26.04). The analysis of ratio measures yielded similar findings. The virological control remained unaffected by the presence of HCV (adjusted Hazard Ratio for co-infected patients vs those with HIV alone: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.91-1.07). The bivariate meta-analytic method confirmed the results of the univariate approaches. This meta-analysis supports the adverse effect of HCV on immune recovery of HIV+ patients initiating HAART, especially of those with initially impaired immunologic status. Although this effect diminishes over time, early administration of HAART in the setting of co-infection seems to be justified., (© 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Several studies have reported the prognostic strength of HIV-1 DNA with variable results however. The aims of the current study were to estimate more accurately the ability of HIV-1 DNA to predict progression of HIV-1 disease toward acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or death, and to compare the prognostic information obtained by HIV-1 DNA with that derived from plasma HIV-1 RNA. Eligible articles were identified through a comprehensive search of Medline, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. The analysis included univariate and bivariate random-effects models. The univariate meta-analysis of six studies involving 1074 participants showed that HIV-1 DNA was a strong predictive marker of AIDS [relative risk (RR): 3.01, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.88-4.82] and of all-cause mortality (RR: 3.49, 95% CI: 2.06-5.89). The bivariate model using the crude estimates of primary studies indicated that HIV-1 DNA was a significantly better predictor than HIV-1 RNA of either AIDS alone (ratio of RRs=1.47, 95% CI: 1.05-2.07) or of combined (AIDS or death) progression outcomes (ratio of RRs=1.51, 95% CI: 1.11-2.05). HIV-1 DNA is a strong predictor of HIV-1 disease progression. Moreover, there is some evidence that HIV-1 DNA might have better predictive value than plasma HIV-1 RNA.

This study investigated the hypothesis that the insertion/deletion (4G/5G) polymorphism of the plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 gene affects the risk for ischemic stroke, since results concerning this association have been controversial. We therefore performed a meta-analysis of published data regarding this issue. A comprehensive electronic search was carried out until January 2006. The analysis was performed using random-effects models and meta-regression. Eighteen eligible studies were retrieved (15 case-control studies and three cohort studies). The case-control studies included 3104 cases and 4870 control individuals concerning the contrast of 4G/4G versus remaining genotypes. The 4G pooled allele frequencies in cases and controls were 54.21 and 54.75%, respectively. Overall, the per-allele odds ratio of the 4G allele was 0.98 (95% confidence interval, 0.858-1.121). Regarding genotypes, we derived nonsignificant odds ratios in all contrasts. The subanalysis including the three studies with a prospective design in the 4G/4G versus 5G/5G contrast derived a significant result (relative risk, 0.523; 95% confidence interval, 0.353-0.775), but the estimated effect size was insignificant when cohort and case-control studies were analyzed together (relative risk, 0.848; 95% confidence interval, 0.662-1.087). We failed to demonstrate a significant association between the 4G/5G polymorphism and ischemic stroke under basal conditions. Determination of plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 function seems of much higher clinical value than determination of the 4G/5G polymorphism. The effect of this genotype on risk of ischemic stroke in acute stressful diseases and the role of cohort studies in genetic epidemiology, however, warrant further investigation.