An international study, with Spanish participation, located 11 new positions on the chromosomes implicated in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and clinical disease severity. COVID-19.
This is a macroestudio analysis 125,584 cases of infection in 25 countriesbetween them Spainto locate the genetic determinants of the SARS-CoV-2 response, and their findings are critical to understanding the biological mechanisms of the disease, finding effective treatments, and protecting potentially more vulnerable people.
The results are published in the journal Nature and among the genes found, it is worth highlighting certain genes coding for pulmonary surfactants which have a key role in lung function, reports the Superior Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) in a press release.
changes between people
Anna Planas, researcher at the CSIC, of the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona (IIBB-CSIC), recalls that the susceptibility and response to viral infections varies from person to personas revealed by the current SARS-COV-2 pandemic
“Environmental and social factors contribute to the risk of contracting the infection, while male sex, advanced age and the presence of other diseases contribute to the risk of developing severe covid-19,” he summarizes.
However, he adds, genetic factors people also increase the likelihood of contracting the infection, requiring hospitalization or developing critical covid-19.
The results obtained in this study are the fruit of the international consortium COVID Host Genetic Initiative, which is looking for common genetic variants in the population that may increase the risk of infection or developing severe covid-19.
To do this, this consortium is carrying out studies on thousands of patients. The present work is an update with a larger number of patients of a study that this consortium published in July 2021.
Mega study
Now presents a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of 125,584 cases of infection and more than 2.5 million checks collected in 25 countries through 60 different studies.
CSIC provided genetic data for 236 patients and 654 controls; The analysis of data from this cohort was led by Israel Fernández Cadenas, from the Research Institute of Hospital Sant Pau (IIB Sant Pau).
“In this new work, we are extending the map that we started last year and we have almost doubled the number of regions and chromosomes studied ranging from 13 to 23″, explains the researcher.
Additionally, samples from around the world have been included, improving our knowledge of the biological processes that cause the severe symptoms of covid-19.
Among these studies is the InmunGen-CoV2 project, included in the CSIC Global Health platform, which brings together researchers from different CSIC institutes (the Institute of Biomedical Research of Barcelona, the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia, the National Center of Biotechnology and the Institute of Physics of Cantabria), the Research Institute of the Hospital de Sant Pau and the Idibaps-Hospital Clínic of Barcelona.
It also has the collaboration of researchers from the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, the Mutua de Terrassa, the Central University Hospital of Asturias and the University Hospital of Valladolid.