HLA and AB0 Polymorphisms May Influence SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Severity

alexandrossfakianakis shared this article with you from Inoreader HLA and AB0 Polymorphisms May Influence SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Severity Via Transplantation - Published Ahead-of-Print Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection is heterogeneous in clinical presentation and disease evolution. To investigate whether immune response to the virus can be influenced by genetic factors, we compared HLA and AB0 frequencies in organ transplant recipients and waitlisted patients according to presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on an Italian cohort composed by transplanted and waitlisted patients in a January 2002-March 2020 time frame. Data from this cohort were merged with the Italian registry of COVID+ subjects, evaluating infection status of transplanted and waitlisted patients. A total of 56304 cases were studied with the aim of comparing HLA and AB0 frequencies according to the presence (n=265, COVID+) or absence (n=56 039, COVID-) of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: The cumulative incidence rate of COVID-19 was 0.112% in the Italian population and 0.462% in waitlisted/transplanted patients (OR=4.2, 95%CI [3.7-4.7], P View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.