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. 2022 May 4;12(1):7247.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-10923-4.

Potential protective effect against SARS-CoV-2 infection by APOE rs7412 polymorphism

Isabel Espinosa-Salinas #  1 , Gonzalo Colmenarejo #  2 , Cristina M Fernández-Díaz #  2 , Marta Gómez de Cedrón  2 , J Alfredo Martinez  2   3   4 , Guillermo Reglero  2   5 , Ana Ramírez de Molina  6
Affiliations

Potential protective effect against SARS-CoV-2 infection by APOE rs7412 polymorphism

Isabel Espinosa-Salinas et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The pandemic burden caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus constitutes a global public health emergency. Increasing understanding about predisposing factors to infection and severity is now a priority. Genetic, metabolic, and environmental factors can play a crucial role in the course and clinical outcome of COVID-19. We aimed to investigate the putative relationship between genetic factors associated to obesity, metabolism and lifestyle, and the presence and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A total of 249 volunteers (178 women and 71 men, with mean and ± SD age of 49 ± 11 years) characterized for dietary, lifestyle habits and anthropometry, were studied for presence and severity of COVID-19 infection, and genotyped for 26 genetic variants related to obesity, lipid profile, inflammation, and biorhythm patterns. A statistically significant association was found concerning a protective effect of APOE rs7412 against SARS-CoV-2 infection (p = 0.039; OR 0.216; CI 0.084, 0.557) after correction for multiple comparisons. This protective effect was also ascribed to the APOɛ2 allele (p = 0.001; OR 0.207; CI 0.0796, 0.538). The genetic variant rs7412 resulting in ApoE2, genetic determinant of lipid and lipoprotein levels, could play a significant role protecting against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Odds ratio (OR) representing the risk of COVID-19 infection associated to genetic variability of 26 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) analyzed in 249 volunteers. Confidence interval (CI): 95%. Associations adjusted by sex, age, risk factors, risk of virus exposition, hypertension, symptoms severity and smoking status. The p-values were calculated for an additive model and corrected by multiple SNP comparisons by the Bonferroni test.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of the population classified according to SARS-CoV-2 infection status and the APOE rs7412 genotype in the additive model. p value = 0.039 adjusted by Bonferroni multiple corrections.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Percentage of the population classified according to SARS-CoV-2 infection status and the CLOCK rs3749474 genotype in additive model.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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