Decrease of Lewis frequency in HIV-infected patients: possible competition of fucosylated antigens with HIV for binding to DC-SIGN.

We explored the impact of human ABO glycosyltransferase and Lewis and secretor fucosyltransferase polymorphisms in HIV infection. We found that, compared with healthy blood donors, HIV-infected patients display a significant decrease in Le(a-b+) phenotype frequencies. We showed that HIV binding on DC-SIGN-transduced Jurkat cells was inhibited by fucosyl bovine serum albumin. Our results suggest a slight protective effect of Lewis b antigen on HIV infection, possibly by the competition of Lewis antigens with HIV for binding to DC-SIGN.