• Basil Chukwuebuka Ndikom, Mahmut Cerkez Ergoren, Murat Sayan, Gamze Mocan, and Umut Fahrioğlu.
• Near East University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology, Nicosia, 99138, Cyprus.
• Afr Health Sci. 2022 Mar 1; 22 (1): 361-366.

BackgroundThe cystine-cystine chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is the primary HIV co-receptor involved in the viral entry process into human cells. The 32 bp deletion variant within the CCR5 gene (CCR5-Δ32) plays a very important role in viral recognition and progression of AIDS.ObjectiveThe current study was aimed at evaluating the CCR5-Δ32 gene variation frequency in Nigerian and Zimbabwean populations residing in Northern Cyprus.MethodsA total number of 211 subjects (103 Nigerians and 108 Zimbabweans) were analyzed. Nigerian population was further analyzed with respect to the three major ethnicities: Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba. Polymerase Chain Reaction was used to determine the CCR5-Δ32 gene variant status.ResultsAll studied subjects from both sampling groups were homozygous for the CCR5 wild type gene (CCR5-wt), meaning neither heterozygous nor homozygous genotypes of CCR5-Δ32 gene variant were observed.ConclusionThis study observed the absence of CCR5-Δ32 deletion gene in the Nigeria and Zimbabwean populations living in Northern Cyprus. These populations lack the genetic advantage over HIV infection and may also show a rapid progression towards AIDS. Additionally, these populations could impact the local gene frequency as these two populations interact more and more.© 2022 Ndikom BC et al.

17 keywords...

hide…