Genetic variants identified – Coronavirus: genetics of severe disease progression clarified – News

  • The greatest risk factors for a severe course of Covid-19 disease are old age and obesity – as well as certain chronic diseases.
  • But young and otherwise healthy people can also become seriously ill.
  • US scientists have now identified 1,370 genetic variants that can explain 77 percent of this risk.
  • With these findings, it may be possible to develop blood tests that could make people at risk identifiable.

“The determinants of a severe course of Covid-19 in otherwise healthy adults have been poorly understood, which reduces the opportunities for early intervention,” write Michael Snyder and his co-authors from Stanford University in the US state of California “Cell Systems”.

With drugs such as Paxlovid, people at risk can be treated quickly in the event of a SARS-CoV-2 infection in order to prevent dangerous courses. This has been done since these medicines became available, but so far the risk assessment has only been based on the classic characteristics – old age, for example.

blood samples examined

The US scientists examined blood samples from 5101 Covid-19 patients who had to be artificially ventilated or who had succumbed to a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Their genetic characteristics were compared to those of almost 1.4 million without Covid-19 disease who had otherwise participated in genomic studies. The result, according to the scientists: “We have identified more than 1000 risk genes in 19 cell types that are responsible for 77 percent of the hereditary risk of severe disease progression.”

Excessive immune reaction as a reason for severe courses


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There are 1,370 so-called single-nucleotide polymorphisms, i.e. gene variants in which individual components of the genome (SNPs) are exchanged. Severe courses of Covid-19 are primarily based on an excessive immune response, which can cause extreme damage to the lung tissue in particular. The study results correspond exactly to this fact. “The genetic risk focuses specifically on natural killer cells (NK cells) and T cells,” the US scientists noted. T lymphocytes and NK cells are extremely important for the immune system, but could also cause illness if overactivated. The researchers believe that a genetic malfunction of these cells is the beginning of life-threatening Covid 19 diseases.

Based on the new findings, it might be possible to develop blood tests to identify people at risk of Covid 19 in the group of otherwise healthy and younger people.

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