New blood group link to COVID risk
Monday May 17th 2021
A major blood group gene is closely linked to the risk of disease from COVID-19 infection, according to a new analysis.
Variants in the ABO gene seem to "significantly" increase the risks of developing disease from the virus, a conference of the American Thoracic Society heard.
Canadian researchers used data from three different sources and 5,000 individuals to search for genes associated with the disease.
Dr Ana Hernandez Cordero, from the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, University of British Columbia, said: "By harnessing the power of genomic information, we identified genes that are related to COVID-19.
"In particular, we found that the ABO gene is a significant risk factor for COVID-19. Of particular note was the relationship between the blood group ABO and COVID-19 risk. We showed that the relationship is not just an association but causal."
A laboratory study in March, reported in Blood Advances, suggested an increased risk associated with blood group A.
The latest findings come from a genomic dataset obtained from infected patients, lung and blood tissue gene expression datasets from clinically affected patients and a proteome dataset from uninfected blood donors.
The research also linked genetic variants in SLC6A20, ERMP1, FCER1G and CA11 to infection risk. ERMP1 is a gene linked to asthma and CA11 to diabetes.
Dr Hernandez added: "We have now identified even more interesting candidates for COVID-19 such as IL10RB, IFNAR2 and OAS1. These genes have been linked to severe COVID-19. Their role in the immune response to viral infections and mounting evidence suggest that these candidates and their role in COVID-19 should be further investigated."
ATS 14 May 2021
Tags: Flu & Viruses | Genetics | North America
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