Open AccessA review of HLA and COVID-19 association studies
Author(s) -
Renata Žunec
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
molecular and experimental biology in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2584-671X
DOI - 10.33602/mebm.3.2.3
Subject(s) - human leukocyte antigen , haplotype , pandemic , disease , coronavirus , epidemiology , population , covid-19 , immunology , genetic association , medicine , allele , biology , genetics , infectious disease (medical specialty) , single nucleotide polymorphism , antigen , genotype , gene , environmental health
Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2), is reported to vary across different populations in theprevalence of infection, in the death rate of patients, in the severity ofsymptoms and in the drug response of patients. Among host genetic factors thatcan influence all these attributes human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genetic systemstands out as one of the leading candidates. Case-control studies, large-scalepopulation-based studies, as well as experimental bioinformatics studies are ofutmost importance to confirm HLA susceptibility spectrum of COVID-19. Thisreview presents the results of the first case-control and epidemiologicalstudies performed in several populations, early after the pandemic breakout.The results are pointing to several susceptible and protective HLA alleles andhaplotypes associations with COVID-19, some of which might be of interest forthe future studies in Croatia, due to its common presence in the population.However, further multiple investigations from around the world, as numerous aspossible, are needed to confirm or deteriorate these preliminary results.