By Medical Staff
Its name is HLA-DRB1*04:01 , and it is the gene responsible for many people infected with Covid-19 not showing symptoms or only experiencing mild ones . This is evidenced by researchers from Newcastle University (United Kingdom) in a study that demonstrates, for the first time, genetic resistance to the coronavirus.
To carry out the research, which has been published in the journal HLA , its authors compared severely affected people with other asymptomatic infected individuals and used next-generation sequencing to focus in detail and at scale on the HLA genes that are clustered on chromosome 6.
Genome-wide studies can be compared to a satellite image , although the high density and complexity of the histocompatibility complex and the variation in different populations mean that significant variation can be missed.
The identified human leukocyte antigen gene, HLA-DRB1*04:01, is known to be directly related to latitude and longitude , meaning that more people in northern and western Europe are likely to have this gene and, therefore, populations of European descent will be more likely to remain asymptomatic.
Clues for future Covid vaccines
"This is an important finding, as it may explain why some people contract SarsCov2 but do not get sick," explained one of the study's authors, Carlos Echevarría , who pointed out that the results could provide clues about which population should be prioritized in future vaccination campaigns.
The study used samples from 49 patients with severe Covid who had been hospitalized for respiratory failure , samples from an asymptomatic group of 69 hospital workers who had tested positive through routine blood antibody tests, and a control group from a study on the relationship between HLA genotypes and the outcomes of joint replacement surgery.