Genetic links revealed between severe COVID-19 and other diseases
Large-scale study could help inform novel COVID-19 treatment strategies


Date:
April 28, 2022
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
A new analysis of data from the Veterans Affairs Million Veteran
Program has uncovered genetic links between COVID-19 severity
and certain medical conditions that are known risk factors for
severe COVID-19.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A new analysis of data from the Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program
has uncovered genetic links between COVID-19 severity and certain medical conditions that are known risk factors for severe COVID-19. Anurag Verma
of the Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, and colleagues present these findings on April 28 in
the open-access journal PLOS Genetics.


==========================================================================
Some people with COVID-19 experience the disease more severely than
others.

Previous research has identified certain variants in specific human genes
that are associated with a person experiencing more severe COVID-19. Some
of these variants may also be associated with other medical conditions
that may already be well understood; identifying these shared variants
could improve understanding of COVID-19 and illuminate potential new
paths for treatment.

To identify shared variants, Verma and colleagues used an unprecedented
dataset of genotypic information linked to electronic health record data
(EHR) for more than 650,000 U.S. veterans. They conducted a type of
analysis known as a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) to examine
links between variants often found in Veterans who experienced severe
COVID-19 and variants associated with a broad selection of medical
conditions.

The analysis revealed that certain variants associated with COVID-19
are also associated with known risk factors for COVID-19. Particularly
strong links were found for variants associated with venous embolism
and thrombosis, as well as type 2 diabetes and ischemic heart disease --
two known COVID-19 risk factors.

The analysis also found genetic links between severe COVID-19 and
neutropenia for Veterans of African and Hispanic ancestry; these links
did not appear for those of European ancestry.

Among respiratory conditions, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic alveolar lung disease shared genetic links with severe COVID-19, but
other respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) did not. Some variants associated with severe COVID-19 were also associated with reduced risk of autoimmune conditions, such as psoriasis
and lupus. These findings highlight the need to carefully weigh various
aspects of the immune system when developing new treatments.

Despite some limitations of the PheWAS method, these findings could help
deepen understanding of COVID-19 and guide development of new treatments.

Verma concludes, "The study demonstrates the value and impact of large
biobanks linking genetic variations with EHR data in public health
response to the current and future pandemics. MVP is one of the most
diverse cohorts in the US.

We had a unique opportunity to scan thousands of conditions documented
before the COVID-19 pandemic. We gained insights into the genetic
architecture of COVID-19 risk factors and disease complication."
"One thing that stood out to us was the high number of immune-mediated conditions that shared genetic architecture with severe manifestations of COVID-19," coauthor Katherine Liao adds. "The nature of the associations brought to light how the SARS-CoV2 virus pushes on a pressure point
in the human immune system and its constant balancing act of fighting
infection while maintaining enough control so that it does not also
become an autoimmune process, attacking self."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Anurag Verma, Noah L. Tsao, Lauren O. Thomann, Yuk-Lam Ho, Sudha K.

Iyengar, Shiuh-Wen Luoh, Rotonya Carr, Dana C. Crawford, Jimmy
T. Efird, Jennifer E. Huffman, Adriana Hung, Kerry L. Ivey,
Michael G. Levin, Julie Lynch, Pradeep Natarajan, Saiju Pyarajan,
Alexander G. Bick, Lauren Costa, Giulio Genovese, Richard
Hauger, Ravi Madduri, Gita A. Pathak, Renato Polimanti, Benjamin
Voight, Marijana Vujkovic, Seyedeh Maryam Zekavat, Hongyu Zhao,
Marylyn D. Ritchie, Kyong-Mi Chang, Kelly Cho, Juan P. Casas,
Philip S. Tsao, J. Michael Gaziano, Christopher O'Donnell, Scott
M. Damrauer, Katherine P. Liao. A Phenome-Wide Association Study
of genes associated with COVID-19 severity reveals shared genetics
with complex diseases in the Million Veteran Program. PLOS Genetics,
2022; 18 (4): e1010113 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010113 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220428142740.htm

--- up 8 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 51 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)