The study found that patients with severe Covid-19 have differences in 23 genes. The good news: this “fertile ground” can be found already when the patient enters the intensive care unit. Explanations.
Scientists have identified 16 new options genetics in people who have developed severe form from COVID-19 in a major study published on Monday that could help researchers develop treatments for patients with severe forms of the disease.
The results show that these people have genes that predispose them to an inability to limit their ability to virus to replication, that is, to excessive inflammation and blood clotting. The scientists said their findings, published in the journal Nature, could help prioritize. treatment likely to work against disease. This discovery could even help predict in the long term which patients might be suffering from severe forms illness.
Differences in 23 genes in patients with severe forms
“It is potentially possible that in the future we will be able to make predictions about patients based on their genome when they are cared for in intensive therapy“said Kenneth Bailey, consultant in critical care at the University of Edinburgh and one of the study’s authors.
Genetic analysis of nearly 56,000 human samples in the UK revealed differences in 23 genes in patients with COVID-19 who became seriously ill compared to the DNA of other groups included in the study, including 16 differences not previously identified.
These new findings could help scientists search for existing drugs that could be useful in treating this disease. For example, researchers have found changes in key genes that regulate levels of factor VIII, a protein involved in blood clots. “ blood clotting is one of the main reasons COVID patients develop anoxia. So it is possible to target this protein to prevent these clots from forming,” said Kenneth Bailey. “We can’t (however) know if these drugs will work until we test them in humans,” he added.
host genetic factors in critical COVID-19. An amazing whole genome sequencing study in over 7,400 cases and 49,000 controls. 23 loci associated with immune, vascular and pulmonary physiology. https://t.co/kKAFp3WuHE
— Benoit Bruneau (@benoitbruneau) March 7, 2022