The Effect of CCR5Δ32 on the Risk of Grade 3-4 Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective Many studies have showed that CCR5 was involved in the pathological process of acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD). However, the relationship between CCR5Δ32, a frameshift mutation, and grade 3-4 acute GVHD risk has not been well established. We performed a meta-analysis to explore the effects of CCR5 gene polymorphisms on grade 3-4 aGVHD. Methods PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library were searched to collect relevant articles. Studies about association between CCR5 genotype in recipients or donors of allo-HSCT and aGVHD risk were included. All pooled analyses were based on fixed effects models. The effects were assessed from odd ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results A total of three studies comprising 937 recipients and 914 donors of allo-HSCT met the inclusion criteria. Compared with the wild-type CCR5 homozygotes, the pooled odd ratios (ORs) for CCR5Δ32 mutation (both homozygous and heterozygous) was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.40-1.26; p=0.24) for donors, and 0.79 (95% CI, 0.35-1.81; p=0.58) for recipients. No relationship was found between the presence of the CCR5Δ32 mutation and grade 3-4 aGVHD. Larger clinical investigations and retrospective studies are needed to explore the association of CCR5 gene polymorphisms with aGVHD risk as well as the outcome of HSCT. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.