Hla-A*32 is Associated with Severity of Covid-19 Patients

Author(s): Nefise KANDEMIR, Belemir Nermin ANIL, Cihad SAKAR, Hanife SAAT, Arif KAPUAGASI, Irfan SENCAN

Objective: Recent advances have contributed to a better understanding of the shared and specific roles of HLA alleles in outcome of Covid-19 disease. We aimed to determine if a severe prognosis could be predicted.

Methods: Covid-19 patients were divided into severe (n=30) and non-severe (n=29) patient groups. All patients’ demographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data were collected and analyzed. Class I/II HLA loci (A, B, C and DRB1, DQB1, DQA1) alleles were studied in patients and healthy controls (n=30), and outcomes of data were compared.

Results: From the demographic and clinical data, 28-day mortality, comorbidity, hypertension and coronary artery disease were found to be significantly higher in the severe group (SG) compared to the non-severe group (NSG). Of the parent-1 allele groups, A*26, A*32, B*41, C*14, C*16, DRB1*8, and DRB1*14 alleles were only present in the severe group and DQB1*4, B*27, B*52, and C*5 alleles were present in the severe and non-severe groups but not in controls. Also, while the presence of A*68, B*37, B*58, DRB1*16, DQB1*4, and C*14 alleles from parent-2 allele groups only in severe and non-severe groups may cause susceptibility to the disease, parent-2 allele groups A*1, DQB1*4, B*15 and B*54 were only present in healthy controls and may have a protective effect.

Conclusion: Since only the A*32 allele was detected in both parents only in the severe group, this allele may be associated with Covid-19 disease. These data suggest that some HLA alleles may be associated with the occurrence of Covid-19.