Covid-19: links between genes and disease severity

The results of the research, published in Nature only a few days ago, revealed extraordinary findings 13 loci - points in the human genome - were identified as being strongly associated with severe Covid-19 infection. This discovery comes from one of the world's largest genetics studies: the group examined the genomes of almost 50,000 patients with Covid-19 and another two million uninfected people. The data findings included participants in the studies conducted by Eurac Research in South Tyrol over the past year.

The Covid-19 Host Genomics Initiative was launched in March 2020 by the Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Helsinki. The initiative has now grown to become one of the most extensive collaborations on human genetics, currently including more than 60 studies from 25 different countries. Thanks to the huge amount of data available, the researchers have been able to produce statistically robust analyses in a relatively short time, achieving results that no research institution could have achieved independently. Of the 13 loci identified, two were found most frequently in East and South Asian populations. The analyses also showed that some of these loci are located in close proximity to genes involved in serious lung diseases such as cancer or pulmonary fibrosis. In these cases, inhibiting the gene could be a therapeutic strategy to be explored further. Researchers have also identified other factors that influence the severity of the disease, such as smoking and a high body mass index.

Eurac Research in South Tyrol

In July 2020, Eurac Research and South Tyrol’s Health Authority initiated the CHRIS Covid-19 study in the Vinschgau valley, situated in the western part of the Province of Bolzano. South Tyrol had just emerged from the first wave of the pandemic, characterised by some of the highest numbers of infections in Italy - albeit to hugely varying degrees in different areas of the province. Eurac Research and the local administration decided to put up a united front in answering questions such as: what conditions increased the chance infection and aggravation? How long does immunity last? Or what could the long-term consequences of Covid-19 be? Within a short period of time, the two institutions started an in-depth review of the CHRIS population study, which had already been ongoing for some time in the Vinschgau valley. This time, the new CHRIS Covid-19 study focused on Covid-19 - with a huge bank of the participant data having been collected before the pandemic. Over the past ten years, CHRIS has clinically, molecularly and genetically characterised more than 13,000 adult participants - more than a third of the resident population. The availability of this participant information is what still makes the CHRIS Covid-19 study unique and internationally valuable for investigating aspects of the disease such as its long-term consequences or the genetic factors that influence it.