Increased prevalence of the COVID-19 associated Neanderthal mutations in the Central European Roma population
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media print-electronic
Document type Journal Article
- Keywords
- COVID-19, Roma, ethnicity, polymorphism,
- MeSH
- 2',5'-Oligoadenylate Synthetase genetics MeSH
- COVID-19 * genetics epidemiology MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Genetic Predisposition to Disease MeSH
- Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Mutation MeSH
- Neanderthals * genetics MeSH
- Prevalence MeSH
- Roma * genetics MeSH
- SARS-CoV-2 * MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Transcription Factors genetics MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Geographicals
- Czech Republic epidemiology MeSH
BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and subsequent COVID-19 has spread world-wide and become pandemic with about 7 million deaths reported so far. Interethnic variability of the disease has been described, but a significant part of the differences remain unexplained and may be attributable to genetic factors. AIM: To analyse genetic factors potentially influencing COVID-19 susceptibility and severity in European Roma minority. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Two genetic determinants, within OAS-1 (2-prime,5-prime-oligoadenylate synthetase 1, a key protein in the defence against viral infection; it activates RNases that degrade viral RNAs; rs4767027 has been analysed) and LZTFL1 (leucine zipper transcription factor-like 1, expressed in the lung respiratory epithelium; rs35044562 has been analysed) genes were screened in a population-sample of Czech Roma (N = 302) and majority population (N = 2,559). RESULTS: For both polymorphisms, Roma subjects were more likely carriers of at least one risky allele for both rs4767027-C (p < 0.001) and rs35044562-G (p < 0.00001) polymorphism. There were only 5.3% Roma subjects without at least one risky allele in comparison with 10.1% in the majority population (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: It is possible that different genetic background plays an important role in increased prevalence of COVID-19 in the Roma minority.
3rd Department of Internal Medicine 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University Prague Czech Republic
Experimental Medicine Centre Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences University of South Bohemia České Budějovice Czech Republic
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