Other medical conditions have associations with the same genetic variants associated with COVID-19 severity<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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THURSDAY, April 28, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Clinical conditions that have associations with the same genetic variants associated with COVID-19 severity have been identified, according to a study published online April 28 in PLOS Genetics<\/em>.<\/p>\n Anurag Verma, Ph.D., from the Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) of genetic variants associated with critical illness or hospitalization due to severe COVID-19 (35 and 42 patients, respectively). The PheWAS analysis was performed using data from the Veterans Affairs Million Veterans Program. Variants associated with severe COVID-19 were tested for association across 1,559 phenotypes among 658,582 veterans.<\/p>\n The researchers found the largest number of phenotypes for variants at the ABO<\/em><\/em> locus (rs495828, rs505922), and they had the strongest association with venous embolism (odds ratiors495828<\/sub>, 1.33) and thrombosis (odds ratiors505922<\/sub>, 1.33). Eleven of 67 respiratory conditions tested had significant associations, including MUC5B<\/em><\/em> locus with an increased risk for idiopathic fibrosing alveolitis (odds ratio, 2.83) and CRHR1<\/em><\/em> with a reduced risk for pulmonary fibrosis (odds ratio, 0.84). There was an association for the TYK2<\/em><\/em> locus with a reduced risk for autoimmune conditions including psoriasis and lupus. Differences in genotype-phenotype associations were seen for PheWAS stratified by ancestry, with veterans of African and Hispanic, but not European, ancestry having an association for LMNA <\/em>with neutropenia (odds ratio, 1.29).<\/strong><\/p>\n “One thing that stood out to us was the high number of immune-mediated conditions that shared genetic architecture with severe manifestations of COVID-19,” a coauthor said in a statement.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n