ABSTRACT

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify four genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and nineteen for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. GWAS signals in eleven loci colocalize with eQTLs associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene) including lung, brain, heart, muscle, skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify ten GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types.

Fuente: Cell Reports
Available online 3 November 2021, 110020

Ingresar