Association Between Inbreeding Coefficient and Susceptibility to HIV-1 Infection, a Case-Control Study

Introduction: Consanguinity has been associated with adverse health outcomes. The objective of the present study was to assess the association between parental consanguinity and risk of infection with human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1). Methods: Data were collected from 333 HIV-1 infected individuals referred to a local health center in Shiraz (southern Iran). A total of 999 healthy individuals frequency matched with the cases according to their sex and age were also studied, as a control group. Results: Prevalence of parental consanguineous marriage was 23.7% and 32.8% among patients and controls, respectively (Chi2 = 9.880, df = 1, p = 0.007). The mean inbreeding coefficient was 0.0110 and 0.0156 among patients and controls, respectively. The risk of infection with HIV-1 decreased as a function of inbreeding coefficient (Chi2 = 7.531, p = 0.006). Conclusions: The present finding indicates a negative association between the susceptibility of HIV-1 infection and the inbreeding coefficient.