The Influence of Hla Genotype on Susceptibility To, and Severity Of, Covid-19 Infection

Abstract

BackgroundThe impact of COVID-19 varies markedly, not only between individual patients but also between different populations. We hypothesised that differences in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes might influence this variation.MethodsUsing next generation sequencing, we analysed the class I and class II classical HLA genes of 147 white British patients with variable clinical outcomes. 49 of these patients were admitted to hospital with severe COVID infection. They had no significant pre-existing comorbidities. We compared the results to those obtained from a group of 69 asymptomatic hospital workers who evidence of COVID exposure based on blood antibody testing. Allelic frequencies in both the severe and asymptomatic groups were compared to local and national healthy controls with adjustments made for age and sex. With the inclusion of hospital staff who had reported localised symptoms only (limited to loss of smell/taste, n=13) or systemic symptoms not requiring hospital treatment (n=16), we carried out ordinal logistic regression modelling to determine the relative influence of age, BMI, sex and the presence of specific HLA genes on symptomatology.FindingsWe found a significant difference in the allelic frequency of HLA-DRB1*04:01 in the severe patient compared to the asymptomatic staff group (5.1% versus 16.7%, p=0.003 after adjustment for age and sex). There was a significantly lower frequency of the haplotype DQA1*01:01/DQB1*05:01/DRB1*01:01 in the asymptomatic group compared to the background population (p=0.007). Ordinal logistic regression modelling confirmed the significant influence of DRB1*04:01 on the clinical severity of COVID-19 observed in the cohorts.InterpretationThis study provides evidence that patient age, sex, BMI and HLA genotype interact to determine the clinical outcome of COVID-19 infection.Research in contextEvidence before this studyHLA genes are implicated in host resistance or susceptibility to a range of pathogens. No studies thus far have compared HLA allele frequencies in patients requiring hospital admission following COVID-19 exposure to a group of asymptomatic individuals.Added value of this studyThe results indicate that the presence of HLA-DRB1*04:01 might confer protection from the development of respiratory failure following exposure to COVID. Individuals remaining asymptomatic following exposure to COVID are less likely to carry the haplotype DQA1*01:01/DQB1*05:01/DRB1*01:01 compared to the background population. This may indicate a host defence pathway not primarily dependent on an IgG response for clearance of infection. These findings conflict with larger genome wide association studies which compared HLA allelic frequencies of severely unwell patients with the background population.Implications of all the available evidenceThe findings could have implications for targeted vaccination regimes as well as helping assess the impact of social restrictions on mortality rates in different populations.

Influence of HLA Class II Polymorphism on Predicted Cellular Immunity Against SARS-CoV-2 at the Population and Individual Level

“…Certainly, evidence supporting an important role of HLA class II in viral immunity has been previously reported ( 48 , 49 ). The current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic represents a unique opportunity to address such fundamental questions which have recently started to be explored ( 50 , 51 ).…”

Designing multi-epitope based peptide vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 using immunoinformatics approach

“… 47 , 48 Likewise, the HLA DRB1 *04−01 allele which is found in many Caucasians and Saudi Arabians is also associated with immune responses to COVID-19. 49 , 50 Both of these alleles have been widely used and are most commonly used as representatives of the MHC-I and MHC-II alleles to assess the possible interaction of COVID-19 vaccine design and vaccine design for other viruses. 7 , 14 , 30 , 44 …”

COVID-19: an ‘extraterrestrial’ disease?

“…More research is definitely needed at this level. Furthermore, when dealing with patients with known co-morbidities, it would be medically sound and therapeutically helpful to do some typing of the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) for susceptibility, so as to identify persons who truly need swifter and deeper care (de Sousa et al, 2020;Langton et al, 2021).…”