British researchers have discovered a variant of a gene linked to a doubled risk of COVID-19-related lung failure, a finding that sheds new light on why some people are more susceptible to severe illness than others and opens the door to targeted medicine.
The high-risk genetic variant is located in a chromosome region that has been linked to a two-fold increase in the risk of death in COVID-19 patients under the age of 60.
Around 60 percent of people with South Asian ancestry have the high-risk version of the gene, according to Oxford University researchers, who added that the discovery could help explain why some British communities have seen a high number of deaths, as well as the devastation caused by COVID-19 in the Indian subcontinent.
The increased risk was discovered to be caused by a gene that regulates the activity of other genes, including one called LZTFL1 that is involved in lung cell virus response.
As a result, the gene variant may prevent proper virus response in cells lining airways and lungs.
According to the researchers, LZTFL1 has no effect on the immune system’s ability to produce antibodies to fight infections, and people who carry the variant should respond normally to vaccines.
The way the lung responds to infection is crucial, as evidenced by this study. This is significant because most treatments have centred on altering the immune system’s response to the virus, Professor James Davies, one of the study’s co-leaders, stated.
Even after accounting for higher rates of COVID-19 risk factors such as work in public-facing jobs and housing in densely populated areas, Dr. Raghib Ali of the University of Cambridge, an adviser on COVID-19 and ethnicity to the British Cabinet Office, said in a statement that ‘there has been an unexplained residual excess risk in South Asians.’
‘This may be due to them being more likely to carry this gene, which increases their risk of death once infected,’ he added, citing the new study.
The research was published in the journal Nature Genetics.
Post Your Comments