Do genetic mutations make people infected with COVID-19 immune in advance?

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Do genetic mutations make people infected with COVID-19 immune in advance?

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Do genetic mutations make people infected with COVID-19 immune in advance?  The latest Nature paper explains the genetic basis of asymptomatic.

During the period of COVID-19 infection, everyone’s symptoms are more or less different. Some symptoms are severe, with bone pain all over the body and throat cut like a knife;

Recently, a study published in “Nature” (Nature) showed that among the asymptomatic patients of COVID-19, it is likely that the HLA gene in the patient’s body has mutated.

This mutation is more common, so that patients with this gene mutation have pre-existing immunity after infection with the new coronavirus, and quickly clear the new coronavirus before symptoms appear.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, many people had two bright bars, but they seemed to be fine.

These people belong to what we usually call asymptomatic infections, why most of them were not hit by “luck”.

The latest research has found that it may be in your genes. The absence of symptoms in asymptomatic patients may be due to a more common genetic variation in the body.

Genetic Basis of Asymptomatic Infection of 2019-nCoV

On July 19, Jill Hollenbach of the University of California, San Francisco, and his team published a paper in Nature, discovering a gene variation associated with asymptomatic infection of the new coronavirus – a variation of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) .

The HLA genes code for proteins involved in the immune response, playing a role in the response to viral infection.

The researchers also found that at least 20% of all patients infected with the new coronavirus are asymptomatic, and they are likely to carry HLA variant genes in their bodies.

136 of 1428 positive patients reported asymptomatic

The study recruited 29,947 individuals to participate in a study that tracked the symptoms and outcomes of the new coronavirus infection. A total of 1,428 unvaccinated individuals reported testing positive for the new coronavirus, of which 136 reported that they had no symptoms.

Among these asymptomatic infections , 1/5 of asymptomatic patients were found to carry a common variation of the HLA gene, called HLA-B*15:01 . People with two copies of the variant were more than eight times more likely to remain asymptomatic than people with other HLA variants.

HLA-B*15:01 is associated with asymptomatic infection

In addition, the team also found that the T cells of individuals with the HLA-B*15:01 mutation and no previous exposure to the new coronavirus responded to new coronavirus protein fragments that shared some of the same genetic sequences as other seasonal coronaviruses.

The results suggest that people who carry this particular variant and have previously been exposed to seasonal influenza virus have pre-existing immunity to the new coronavirus and may quickly clear the new coronavirus before symptoms appear.

In other words, we have been immunized in advance through other viruses. When the new coronavirus comes, the immune system can respond quickly.

Studying HLA Gene Variations Could Help Fight the Next Pandemic

Through this study, HLA mutations can make carriers more likely to become asymptomatic infections of the new coronavirus, which also answers the doubts about why there are some people who are completely asymptomatic after infection.

The study of asymptomatic infections may improve our understanding of the signature of the immune system—the HLA variant signature that promotes rapid virus clearance from the body.

COVID-19 infection is a respiratory infection, and respiratory infection is a major public health problem.

This type of infectious disease has brought us a huge burden, especially for young children, the elderly, and people with underlying diseases.

The number of people who get sick due to respiratory infection accounts for 15%-30% of the total disease population every year, and the harm should not be underestimated .

The huge damage and death toll caused by COVID-19 pandemic in recent years has brought us a huge price.

In order to better deal with possible future pandemics and find corresponding countermeasures as soon as possible, the significance of the above research is undoubtedly very important, especially the research findings on asymptomatic HLA gene variation will help us better deal with the next pandemic.

This discovery may provide us with a feasible solution to reduce the severity of illness and mortality in future pandemics.

Of course, this study is only a preliminary exploration, and there are certain limitations. For example, the symptoms corresponding to the test results in all cohorts are self-reported. In addition, simple nasal congestion and inconspicuous rash are not listed as symptoms. In fact, these are mild symptoms.

But all in all, this study advances our understanding of the genetic basis of asymptomatic infection, which has important implications for public health, vaccine design, and therapeutic development.

References

Augusto DG et al. A common allele of HLA is associated with asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06331-x

Do genetic mutations make people infected with COVID-19 immune in advance?

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