The frequency of defective genes in and genes in 20 hemophiliacs is associated with Korean Red Ginseng and highly active antiretroviral therapy: the impact of lethal mutations in and genes on HIV-1 evolution.

BACKGROUND

We have reported that internal deletions in the , , and genes in HIV-1-infected patients are induced in those treated with Korean Red Ginseng (KRG). KRG delays the development of resistance mutations to antiretroviral drugs.

METHODS

The - genes over 26 years in 20 hemophiliacs infected with HIV-1 from a single source were sequenced to investigate whether - genes were affected by KRG and KRG plus highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) (hereafter called GCT) and compared the results with our previous data.

RESULTS

A significantly higher number of in-frame small deletions were found in the - genes of KRG-treated patients than at the baseline, in control patients, and in ART-alone patients ( < 0.001). These were significantly reduced in GCT patients ( < 0.05). In contrast, sequences harboring a premature stop codon (SC) were more significant in GCT patients (10.1%) than in KRG-alone patients, control ( < 0.01), and ART-alone patients ( = 0.078 for peripheral blood mononuclear cells). The proportion of SC in Vpr was similar to that in Vif, whereas the proportion of sequences revealing SC in the genes was significantly lower than that in the genes ( < 0.01). The genetic distance was 1.8 times higher in the sequences harboring SC than in the sequences without SC ( < 0.001). Q135P in the gene is significantly associated with rapid progression to AIDS ( < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Our data show that KRG might induce sΔ in the v- genes and that v- genes are similarly affected by lethal mutations.