A manuscript was published describing findings of the International Meta-analysis of HIV Host Genetics. This report presents results from a comprehensive meta-analysis of individual participants' data contributed by 19 groups of investigators from the USA, Europe, and Australia. Persons with either the CCR5-delta 32 or CCR2-64I alleles have a significantly decreased risk of progression to AIDS and death and have lower levels of HIV-1 viremia after seroconversion. However, no consistent protective effect was seen for subjects homozygous for the SDF-1 3'A allele. A manuscript was submitted analysis of data from seroconverters to assess whether the effects of the CCR5-delta 32 or CCR2-64I variants vary over the course of the disease. The results suggest that CCR2-64I confers strong early protection, while the protection conferred by CCR5-delta 32 is constant over the course of the disease. A manuscript was published describing the costs and benefits of an MIPD versus a meta-analysis of the published literature (MPL). A manuscript was published describing results from the AIDS-Cancer Match Registry Study to assess the risk of cancer after AIDS among persons with and without Kaposi's Sarcoma, a marker for infection with Kaposi's Sarcoma Herpes Virus (KSHV). Based on follow-up of 189,000 persons with AIDS, the findings indicate that KSHV is involved in the pathogenesis of some immunoblastic lymphomas. A manuscript was published describing the risk of end-stage liver disease in HCV-infected hemophiliacs with and without HIV infection. HIV was associated with a markedly increased risk of HCV-related ESLD for persons with hemophilia, particularly with HBV infection, low CD4(+) lymphocytes, or older age. A letter was published describing limitations of closed cohorts to estimate epidemic trends of KSHV among homosexual men. A paper was accepted for publication describing a meta-analysis of the published literature to probe the association between CCR5- delta 32 heterozygosity and the risk of perinatal HIV-1 infection. The meta-analysis clarifies that perinatal infection is not significantly altered by heterozygosity for CCR5-delta 32 in the infant. A manuscript is in preparation describing a meta-analysis of individual participant data to study the effects of CCR5-delta 32, CCR2 64I, and SDF1 3'A polymorphisms on disease progression in perintally HIV-1-infected children. The results indicate that CCR5-delta 32 and CCR2 64I both seem to modulate the risk of disease progression among perinatally infected children and their effect may be time-dependent and more prominent in the early years of the infection.
