A New Analysis Of Data From The U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs Million Veterans Program Found A Genetic Link Between Covid-19 Severity And Various Medical Conditions That Are Known Risk Factors For Severe Covid-19. These Findings Were Published On April 28, 2024 In The American Journal Of Veterans Medical Center In Philadelphia.
Some Covid-19 Patients Are More Ill Than Others. Previous Studies Have Found That Certain Mutations In Specific Human Genes Are Associated With A Person Experiencing More Severe Covid-19. Some Of These Variations May Also Be Related To Other Medical Conditions That May Have Been Fully Understood; Finding These Common Variants Can Increase The Understanding Of Covid-19 And Reveal Potential New Treatment Pathways.
Although Genes Associated With Severe Covid-19 Are Associated With Established Risk Factors And Adverse Consequences, Including Deep Venous Thrombosis, An Important Subset Of These Genes Is Inversely Associated With A Reduced Risk Of Immune-mediated Diseases Such As Psoriasis, Lupus Erythematosus And Rheumatoid Arthritis. Source: Anurag Verma, Katherine Liao, And Scott Damrauer (cc-by 4.0)
To Identify Shared Variants, Verma And Colleagues Used An Unprecedented Set Of Genotype Information Linked To Electronic Health Record Data (EHR) Of More Than 650000 U.S. Veterans. They Conducted An Analysis Called The Whole Phenotype Association Study (phewas) To Examine The Link Between Variants Often Found In Veterans Who Experienced Severe Covid-19 And Variants Related To Widely Selected Medical Conditions.
Analysis Showed That Some Variants Associated With Covid-19 Were Also Associated With Known Risk Factors Of Covid-19. Mutations Associated With Venous Embolism And Thrombosis, As Well As Type 2 Diabetes And Ischemic Heart Disease Were Found To Be Particularly Strongly Associated -- Two Known Covid-19 Risk Factors.
The Analysis Also Found A Genetic Link Between Severe Covid-19 And Neutropenia In African And Hispanic Veterans; These Links Did Not Appear Among European Veterans.
In Respiratory Diseases, Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis And Chronic Alveolar Disease Are Genetically Associated With Severe Covid-19, But Other Respiratory Infections And Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Are Not. Some Variants Associated With Severe Covid-19 Are Also Associated With A Reduced Risk Of Autoimmune Diseases Such As Psoriasis And Lupus. These Findings Highlight The Need To Carefully Weigh All Aspects Of The Immune System When Developing New Treatments.
Although The Phewas Method Has Some Limitations, These Findings Can Help Deepen The Understanding Of Covid-19 And Guide The Development Of New Therapies.
Verma Concludes: "This Study Demonstrates The Value And Impact Of A Large Biobank That Links Genetic Variation To EHR Data For Public Health Response To Current And Future Pandemics. MVP Is One Of The Most Diverse Cohorts In The United States. We Have A Unique Opportunity To Scan Thousands Of Conditions Recorded Before The Covid-19 Pandemic. We Have Gained Insight Into The Genetic Structure Of Covid-19 Risk Factors And Disease Complications."
Co Author Katherine Liao Added: "what's Striking Is That A Large Number Of Immune-mediated Diseases Share Genetic Structure With The Severe Manifestations Of Covid-19. The Nature Of These Associations Enables Us To Understand How Sars-cov2 Virus Is Pushed To The Pressure Point Of The Human Immune System And How It Maintains Sufficient Control While Fighting Infection So That It Does Not Also Become An Autoimmune Process That Attacks Itself."