The Role of Genetic Factors in the Development of Acute Respiratory Viral Infection COVID-19: Predicting Severe Course and Outcomes.

The aim of this study was to identify single nucleotide variants in genes associated with susceptibility to or severe outcomes of COVID-19. A total of 319 genomic DNA samples from patients with varying degrees of disease severity and 78 control DNA samples from people who had regular or prolonged contact with patients with COVID-19 but did not have clinical manifestations and/or antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. Seven SNPs were identified that were statistically associated with disease risk or severe course, rs1799864 in the CCR2 gene (OR = 2.21), rs1990760 in the IFIH1 gene (OR = 2.41), rs1800629 in the TNF gene (OR = 1.98), rs75603675 in the TMPRSS2 gene (OR = 1.86), rs7842 in the C3AR1 gene (OR = 2.08), rs179008 in the gene TLR7 (OR = 1.85), rs324011 in the C3AR1 gene (OR = 2.08), rs179008 in the TLR7 gene (OR = 1.85), and rs324011 in the STAT6 gene (OR = 1.84), as well as two variants associated with protection from COVID-19, rs744166 in the STAT3 gene (OR = 0.36) and rs1898830 in the TLR2 gene (OR = 0.47). The genotype in the region of these markers can be the criterion of the therapeutic approach for patients with COVID-19.

Possible contribution of GSTP1 and other xenobiotic metabolizing genes to vitiligo susceptibility.

Vitiligo is an acquired pigmentary disorder with several proposed pathogenesis mechanisms and complex multifactorial genetic predisposition. We analyzed 65 polymorphisms in genes potentially relevant to vitiligo pathogenesis mechanism to reveal novel and confirm reported genetic risk factors in general Russian population. We found that polymorphism rs1138272 (TC + CC) in GSTP1 gene encoding enzyme involved in xenobiotic metabolism is associated with vitiligo (Bonferroni adjusted P value 0.0015) with extraordinary high odds ratio 13.03, and haplotype analysis confirmed association of GSTP1 gene with vitiligo risk. Moreover, analysis of variations in several genes encoding enzymes of xenobiotic metabolism showed that higher risk of vitiligo is associated with higher number of risk alleles. This finding reveals possible contribution of genetic background to observed imbalance of oxidative stress control in vitiligo through cumulative effect of multiple genetic variations in xenobiotic metabolizing genes, supporting the concept of multigenic nature of vitiligo with multiple low-risk alleles cumulatively contributing to vitiligo risk.