ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) represented an international health risk. Variants of the interferon-induced transmembrane protein-3 (IFITM3) gene can increase the risk of developing severe viral infections. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between IFITM3 rs12252A>G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and COVID-19 severity and mortality in 100 Egyptian patients. All participants were subjected to serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) determination by ELISA and IFITM3 rs12252 genotyping by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Of all participants, 85.0% had the IFITM3 rs12252 homozygous AA genotype, whereas 15.0% had the heterozygous AG genotype. None of our participants had the homozygous GG genotype. The IFITM3 rs12252A allele was found in 92.5% and the G allele in only 7.5%. There was no significant association (p > 0.05) between the IFITM3 rs12252 SNP and COVID-19 severity, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, or IL-6 serum levels. The heterozygous AG genotype frequency showed a significant increase among participants who died (32.0%) compared with those who had been cured (9.3%). The mutant G allele was associated with patients' death. Its frequency among cured participants was 8.5%, whereas in those who died was 24.2% (p = 0.024) with 3.429 odds ratio [95% confidence interval: 1.1-10.4]. In conclusion, this study revealed a significant association between the G allele variant of IFITM3 rs12252 and COVID-19 mortality. However, results were unable to establish a significant link between rs12252 polymorphism, disease severity, ICU admission, or serum IL-6 levels.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Membrane Proteins , RNA-Binding Proteins , SARS-CoV-2 , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Alleles , COVID-19/mortality , COVID-19/genetics , Cross-Sectional Studies , Egypt , Gene Frequency , Genetic Predisposition to Disease , Genotype , Interleukin-6/blood , Interleukin-6/genetics , Membrane Proteins/genetics , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide , RNA-Binding Proteins/genetics , SARS-CoV-2/pathogenicity , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Natural-killer group 2 (NKG2), a characteristic receptor of natural killer (NK) cell family, assumes a vital role in modulating NK cytotoxic function. We aimed to detect mRNA expression of both NKG2A and NKG2D in serum NK cells obtained from colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. METHODS: We enrolled 36 patients with newly diagnosed CRC, as well as 15 group matched healthy individuals. The patients were further classified into: 23 non-metastatic CRC (group 1) and 13 metastatic CRC (group 2). We detected the expression of NKG2A and NKG2D serum levels for all participants utilizing real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: NKG2D and NKG2A mRNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were significantly elevated in patients with CRC compared to controls (P<0.01). NKG2D or NKG2A showed sensitivity (77.8, 83.33%) and specificity (73.33, 100%) respectively using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis for discrimination between patients and controls, whereas group 1 and group 2 showed no statistical significant difference in NKG2D and NKG2A levels (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our work is one of the first research that could detect an increase in NKG2D in CRC. In spite of their defensive role in tumor immune surveillance, NKG2D and NKG2A and their ligands could have misused as tumor survival tool, empowering immune avoidance and suppression.
