Detection of the CCR5-Δ32 HIV resistance gene in Bronze Age skeletons

Hummel, S
Schmidt, D
Kremeyer, B
Herrmann, B
Oppermann, M

¹Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology, Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany; ²Department of Immunology, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany

Genes and Immunity (2005) 6, 371-374. doi:10.1038/sj.gene.6364172

Correspondence: Dr M Oppermann, Department of Immunology, Georg-August-University, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075 Göttingen, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]

Received 28 May 2004; revised and accepted 5 October 2004; published online 7 April 2005

Genes and Immunity 6(4):p 371-374, June 2005.

A mutant allele of the chemokine receptor CCR5 gene (CCR5-Δ32), which confers resistance to HIV-1 infection, is believed to have originated from a single mutation event in historic times, and rapidly expanded in Caucasian populations, owing to an unknown selective advantage. Among other candidates, the plague bacillus Yersinia pestis was implicated as a potential source of strong selective pressure on European populations during medieval times. Here, we report amplifications of the CCR5-Δ32 DNA sequence from up to 2900-year-old skeletal remains from different burial sites in central Germany and southern Italy. Furthermore, the allele frequency of CCR5-Δ32 in victims of the 14th century plague pandemic in Lübeck/northern Germany was not different from a historic control group. Our findings indicate that this mutation was prevalent already among prehistoric Europeans. The results also argue against the possibility of plague representing a major selective force that caused rapid increase in CCR5-Δ32 gene frequencies within these populations.