Infant CD4 C868T polymorphism is associated with increased human immunodeficiency virus (HIV‐1) acquisition

Summary The C868T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the CD4 receptor encodes an amino acid change that could alter its structure and influence human immunodeficiency virus (HIV‐1) infection risk. HIV‐1‐infected pregnant women in Nairobi were followed with their infants for 1 year postpartum. Among 131 infants, those with the 868T allele were more likely than wild‐type infants to acquire HIV‐1 overall [hazard ratio (HR) = 1·92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·05, 3·50, P  = 0·03; adjusted HR = 2·03, 95% CI 1·03, 3·98, P  = 0·04], after adjusting for maternal viral load. This SNP (an allele frequency of ∼15% in our cohort) was associated with increased susceptibility to mother‐to‐child HIV‐1 transmission, consistent with a previous study on this polymorphism among Nairobi sex workers.