Trial Information

HLA and KIR Associations With Infectious Viral Agents in an HIV Cohort of Women (WIHS)

The aim of the study is to examine the role of HLA and killer immunolobulin-like receptors
(KIR) in the natural history of HPV, HCV, and HBV in HIV-positive and HIV-negative women.
The immune response to viral infection mediated by T lymphocytes is HLA restricted,
suggesting that HLA class I, and class II might be associated with risk of viral infection,
persistence and disease progression. Natural killer (NK) cells are a unique group of
lymphocytes involved in surveillance and killing of foreign or infected cells through a
mechanism involving recognition of HLA molecules by an extremely diverse set of receptors on
the NK cell surface. A major group of these receptors are the KIRs. Thus, a relationship
between KIR genotype and HIV infection is biologically plausible, and requires further
investigation in observational studies.

The WIHS study is a prospective study, which may allow us to answer questions relating to
the role of host HLA and KIR genotype on duration of infection, and the development of
virus-associated diseases such as cervical cancer (related to HPV infection), and liver
cancer (HBV and HCV). WIHS is a large, racially and geographically diverse cohort of HIV
positive (n = 2761), and risk-matched HIV-negative women (n = 942). The large size of the
cohort will provide substantial statistical power, which is of major importance in any HLA
association study.