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Review
. 2021 Apr 1:12:622176.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.622176. eCollection 2021.

Genetics Insight for COVID-19 Susceptibility and Severity: A Review

Ingrid Fricke-Galindo  1 , Ramcés Falfán-Valencia  1
Affiliations
Review

Genetics Insight for COVID-19 Susceptibility and Severity: A Review

Ingrid Fricke-Galindo et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) presents a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations ranging from an asymptomatic to a severe clinical course. The host genetic background influence on the susceptibility and outcome of multiples infectious diseases has been previously reported. Herein, we aimed to describe relevant identified genetic variants and those potentially related to the inter-individual variability of COVID-19 susceptibility and/or severity considering the physiopathological pathway of the disease The HLA-A*25:01, -B*15:27, -B*46:01, -C*01:02, and -C*07:29 alleles have been associated with COVID-19 susceptibility; while HLA-A*02:02, -B*15:03, and -C*12:03 have been identified as low-risk alleles. Variants in cytokine genes such as IL1B, IL1R1, IL1RN, IL6, IL17A, FCGR2A, and TNF could be related to disease susceptibility and cytokine storm, and/or COVID-19 complications (e.g., venous thrombosis). Several variants in ACE2 and TMPRSS2 affecting the expression of the receptors related to COVID-19 have been associated with the disease susceptibility and risk factors. Finally, two GWAS have identified the loci 3p21.31 (LZTFL1, SLC6A20, CCR9, FYCO1, CXCR6, and XCR1) and 9q34.2 (ABO) with COVID-19 severity. Heterogeneous results in the association of genetic variants with COVID-19 susceptibility and severity were observed. The mechanism of identified risk-genes and studies in different populations are still warranted.

Keywords: ACE2; COVID-19; HLA; SARS-CoV-2; SNV; genetics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Clinical courses of COVID-19. Data (2) and Clinical management of COVID-19, interim guidance (3). Created with BioRender.com.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Biological Pathway of COVID-19 in which different genes could be implicated in the disease’s differential clinical outcome. Created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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