MAP3K19 regulatory variation in populations with African ancestry is associated with severe COVID-19 (preprint)

Ancestry impacts the likelihood of hospitalization due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2). To identify ancestry-linked genetic risk variants associated with COVID-19 hospitalization, we performed an integrative analysis of two genome-wide association studies (GWASs) evaluating genetic variation among ancestrally diverse cohorts. We resolved four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are more frequent in COVID-19 hospitalized patients with non-European ancestry than the general population. Among them, the COVID-19 risk SNP rs16831827 shows the largest difference in allele frequency between African and European populations. The minor allele frequency of rs16831827*T was significantly higher in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with African ancestry. SNP rs16831827 also associates with COVID-19 hospitalization in an independent GWAS from the UK Biobank wherein both the hospitalized and control patients are entirely of African ancestry. rs16831827 is an expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) of MAP3K19. Apart from rs16831827, two rare SNPs of MAP3K19, rs186150828 and rs192473276, were also significantly associated with COVID-19 hospitalization among African populations in the Regeneron COVID-19 hospitalization GWAS (p < 5x10-7). MAP3K19 expression is induced during ciliogenesis and most abundant in ciliated tissues including the lung and testis. Multiple COVID-19 related single-cell RNA sequencing data revealed that MAP3K19 is highly expressed in nasal multiciliated epithelial cells, nasopharyngeal ciliated cells, and airway ciliated cells. The COVID-19 hospitalization risk allele rs16831827*T is associated with reduced MAP3K19 expression. Hence, rs16831827 may increase the risk of severe COVID-19 by reducing baseline MAP3K19 expression.

Mental health status of Chinese residents during the COVID-19 epidemic (preprint)

Background: To investigate the mental health status of Chinese residents during the epidemic of COVID-19, as well as to identify the positive and negative factors and regulatory effect of negative cognitive processing bias on mental health. Methods: A total of 60199 residents in China were surveyed via an internet-based survey containing a general questionnaire, such as the self-rating depression scale, the state anxiety inventory, and the negative cognitive processing bias questionnaire. An ordered multiple logistic regression analysis model was used to analyze the collected data. Results: The survey revealed mild, moderate, and severe depressive symptoms in 62.65%, 11.33%, and 6.14% participants, respectively, and mild, moderate, and severe anxiety symptoms in 33.21%, 41.27%, and 22.99% participants, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that factors, such as female gender, being older than 55 years, high school education level, medical staff, marital conflicts, negative attention bias, rumination, and death growth rate, positively affected depression and anxiety symptoms. The good family functionality, democratic working atmosphere, and a myriad of social activities negatively affected the level of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: Chinese residents exhibited a high prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms during the epidemic. Thus, psychological interventions should focus on the vulnerable groups, and cognitive training should focus on reducing the negative cognitive processing bias. This might be an effective way to alleviate the mental stress of the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic.