Scientists identify new genetic differences in severe Covid patients

Scientists have identified 16 new genetic variants in people who have developed severe Covid-19 in a large study published on Monday that could help researchers develop treatments for very sick patients.

The results suggest that people with severe Covid have genes that predispose them to one of two problems: failure to limit the virus’ ability to make copies of itself, or excessive inflammation and blood clotting.

The scientists said their findings, published in the journal Nature, could help prioritize the likely treatments that might work against the disease. Over time, the information can even help predict which patients are likely to become seriously ill.

“It is possible that in the future we may be able to make predictions about patients based on their genome at the point of presentation (into) intensive care,” said Kenneth Baillie, a consultant in critical care medicine at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and one of the authors of the study.

Genetic analysis of nearly 56,000 samples from people in Britain showed differences in 23 genes from Covid-19 patients who became seriously ill, when compared with DNA from other groups participating in the study, including 16 differences that had not been identified. previously.

The new findings could help guide scientists in the search for existing drugs that could be useful in treating Covid-19.

For example, the researchers found changes in key genes that regulate the level of factor VIII, a protein involved in the formation of blood clots.

“Blood clotting is one of the main reasons why Covid patients develop oxygen starvation. So this is potentially targetable to stop these clots from forming,” Baillie said.

But “we can’t know if these drugs will work until we try them in people,” he added.

One of the previously discovered genes, TYK2, is targeted by Eli Lilly’s arthritis drug baricitinib, which is being studied as a treatment for Covid-19.

The drug was shown last week in a trial to reduce the risk of death and hospitalization in Covid-19 patients by 13%.

_{Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves}