OBJECTIVES: COVID-19 caused a global pandemic with millions of deaths. Fat mass and obesity-associated gene (FTO) (alias m6A RNA demethylase) and its functional rs17817449 polymorphism are candidates to influence COVID-19-associated mortality since methylation status of viral nucleic acids is an important factor influencing viral viability. METHODS: We tested a population-based cohort of 5233 subjects (aged 63-87 years in 2020) where 70 persons died from COVID-19 and 394 from other causes during the pandemic period. RESULTS: The frequency of GG homozygotes was higher among those who died from COVID-19 (34%) than among survivors (19%) or deaths from other causes (20%), P <0.005. After multiple adjustments, GG homozygotes had a higher risk of death from COVID-19 with odds ratio = 2.01 (95% confidence interval; 1.19-3.41, P <0.01) compared with carriers of at least one T allele. The FTO polymorphism was not associated with mortality from other causes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that FTO variability is a significant predictor of COVID-19-associated mortality in Caucasians.

• Klíčová slova
• COVID-19, FTO, Mortality, Polymorphism, SARS-CoV-2,
• MeSH
• alely MeSH
• COVID-19 * mortalita   genetika   virologie   MeSH
• gen pro FTO * genetika   MeSH
• genetická predispozice k nemoci MeSH
• jednonukleotidový polymorfismus * MeSH
• kohortové studie MeSH
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• SARS-CoV-2 fyziologie   MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé středního věku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• senioři nad 80 let MeSH
• senioři MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• FTO protein, human MeSH Prohlížeč
• gen pro FTO * MeSH

Despite the rapid progress in diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD), this disease remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Recent progress over the last two decades in the field of molecular genetics, especially with new tools such as genome-wide association studies, has helped to identify new genes and their variants, which can be used for calculations of risk, prediction of treatment efficacy, or detection of subjects prone to drug side effects. Although the use of genetic risk scores further improves CVD prediction, the significance is not unambiguous, and some subjects at risk remain undetected. Further research directions should focus on the "second level" of genetic information, namely, regulatory molecules (miRNAs) and epigenetic changes, predominantly DNA methylation and gene-environment interactions.

• Klíčová slova
• cardiovascular disease, epigenetic, gene, gene score, interaction, polymorphism,
• MeSH
• celogenomová asociační studie metody   MeSH
• genetická predispozice k nemoci MeSH
• genetické testování metody   MeSH
• individualizovaná medicína metody   MeSH
• kardiovaskulární nemoci diagnóza   genetika   terapie   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• nutrigenomika metody   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH