High heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in HIV carriers.

Set point viral load in HIV patients ranges over several orders of magnitude and is a key determinant of disease progression in HIV. A number of recent studies have reported high heritability of set point viral load implying that viral genetic factors contribute substantially to the overall variatio...

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Main Authors: Sebastian Bonhoeffer, Christophe Fraser, Gabriel E Leventhal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2015-02-01
Series:PLoS Pathogens
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004634&type=printable
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author Sebastian Bonhoeffer
Christophe Fraser
Gabriel E Leventhal
author_facet Sebastian Bonhoeffer
Christophe Fraser
Gabriel E Leventhal
author_sort Sebastian Bonhoeffer
collection DOAJ
description Set point viral load in HIV patients ranges over several orders of magnitude and is a key determinant of disease progression in HIV. A number of recent studies have reported high heritability of set point viral load implying that viral genetic factors contribute substantially to the overall variation in viral load. The high heritability is surprising given the diversity of host factors associated with controlling viral infection. Here we develop an analytical model that describes the temporal changes of the distribution of set point viral load as a function of heritability. This model shows that high heritability is the most parsimonious explanation for the observed variance of set point viral load. Our results thus not only reinforce the credibility of previous estimates of heritability but also shed new light onto mechanisms of viral pathogenesis.
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institution DOAJ
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publishDate 2015-02-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS Pathogens
spelling doaj-art-a6c325aa6d47445fb60f196fae3a0ab42025-08-20T03:10:04ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Pathogens1553-73661553-73742015-02-01112e100463410.1371/journal.ppat.1004634High heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in HIV carriers.Sebastian BonhoefferChristophe FraserGabriel E LeventhalSet point viral load in HIV patients ranges over several orders of magnitude and is a key determinant of disease progression in HIV. A number of recent studies have reported high heritability of set point viral load implying that viral genetic factors contribute substantially to the overall variation in viral load. The high heritability is surprising given the diversity of host factors associated with controlling viral infection. Here we develop an analytical model that describes the temporal changes of the distribution of set point viral load as a function of heritability. This model shows that high heritability is the most parsimonious explanation for the observed variance of set point viral load. Our results thus not only reinforce the credibility of previous estimates of heritability but also shed new light onto mechanisms of viral pathogenesis.https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004634&type=printable
spellingShingle Sebastian Bonhoeffer
Christophe Fraser
Gabriel E Leventhal
High heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in HIV carriers.
PLoS Pathogens
title High heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in HIV carriers.
title_full High heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in HIV carriers.
title_fullStr High heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in HIV carriers.
title_full_unstemmed High heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in HIV carriers.
title_short High heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in HIV carriers.
title_sort high heritability is compatible with the broad distribution of set point viral load in hiv carriers
url https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004634&type=printable
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AT christophefraser highheritabilityiscompatiblewiththebroaddistributionofsetpointviralloadinhivcarriers
AT gabrieleleventhal highheritabilityiscompatiblewiththebroaddistributionofsetpointviralloadinhivcarriers