Researchers from CEPID BRAINN – doctors Rodrigo Secolin and Iscia Lopes-Cendes – and colleagues publish an article on genetic variability related to COVID-19 in the journal Human Genome Variation, from the Nature group.
Among the incessantly tragic news about Covid-19 in Brazil, the stories – increasingly frequent – of families who lost one, two, three, four, several members in a few days to the disease still cause astonishment and concern. From north to south of Brazil, such reports multiply. At the beginning of the year, amid the serious health crisis in the north of the country, seven people from the same family died with symptoms of Covid-19 in the interior of Pará. In March, five relatives died from Covid in the city of Cruz Alta, in Rio Grande do Sul, while three other family members were hospitalized. These stories – despite having several possible explanations, such as family reunions or shared housing – strengthen the suspicion that perhaps there is a genetic, hereditary component that could predispose to the serious symptoms of the new coronavirus. A new study, with the participation of researchers from CEPID BRAINN, may help to clarify this issue.
Recently published in the journal Human Genome Variation (HGV), the study “Genetic variability in COVID-19-related genes in the Brazilian population” identified, in the Brazilian population, variations in genes that are believed to have an influence on the disease. These variations – some similar to other variations found in populations around the world, others exclusive to Brazilians – can result in different rates of contagion, infection and the body's response to the disease, and are now targets for in-depth studies on how the new coronavirus affects the population.
The influence of genes on Covid-19
Previous studies demonstrated that some patients with severe symptoms of COVID-19 had variations in a group of genes related to the immune system and the surface proteins of some cells, which could facilitate the entry and multiplication of the new coronavirus and result in a condition more severe infection. Using this information as a basis for research, the work published in HGV – which included the participation of researchers Rodrigo Secolin e Iscia Lopes-Cendes, from BRAINN – analyzed the genome of the Brazilian population in search of variations in these genes of interest.
The work describes the search process, using genetic data sharing platforms such as BIPMED, and the results: 325 genetic variations shared with other populations (06 of them already linked to different prognoses of Covid-19) and 70 variations exclusive to the Brazilian population so far, 07 of which have the potential to alter the function of proteins, according to computational predictions.
“These findings could lead to different rates of infection or response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and should be investigated in patients with the disease,” the researchers write.
Population genetics in the fight against the pandemic
Population genetics studies are increasingly used in medicine as aids in the prevention and treatment of diseases, from infectious ones, such as Covid-19, to chronic ones, such as obesity and diabetes. By analyzing large genomic databases containing thousands of samples from different people and population groups, researchers can find patterns of mutations or variations that indicate a predisposition to diseases, or even their severity.
In the case of the current study on Covid-19, it is important to emphasize that the genetic variations identified in the Brazilian population are considered 'rare', and therefore still need to be studied further before serving as the basis for medical treatments. “At the moment, the already known risk factors for COVID-19, such as age, obesity, diabetes, diseases that interfere with immunity and cancer, continue to be the main risk factors that should be considered by the population”, says the researcher Iscia Lopes-Cendes.
original article published on the Cepid Brainn website.
