Associations between genetic variants in the vitamin d metabolism pathway and severity of covid-19 among UAE residents

Authors

Fatme Al-Anouti
Mira Mousa
Spyridon N. Karras
William B. Grant
Zainab Alhalwachi
Laila Abdel-Wareth
Maimunah Uddin
Nawal Alkaabi
Guan K. Tay, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Bassam Mahboub
Habiba Alsafar

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Nutrients

Volume

13

Issue

11

Publisher

MDPI

School

School of Medical and Health Sciences

RAS ID

42647

Funders

Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research Zayed University, Research Office, United Arab Emirates

Comments

Al-Anouti, F., Mousa, M., Karras, S. N., Grant, W. B., Alhalwachi, Z., Abdel-Wareth, L., . . . AlSafar, H. (2021). Associations between genetic variants in the vitamin d metabolism pathway and severity of covid-19 among UAE residents. Nutrients, 13(11), article 3680. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13113680

Abstract

Vitamin D has many effects on cells in the immune system. Many studies have linked low vitamin D status with severity of COVID-19. Genetic variants involved in vitamin D metabolism have been implicated as potential risk factors for severe COVID-19 outcomes. This study investigated how genetic variations in humans affected the clinical presentation of COVID-19. In total, 646 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were divided into two groups: noncritical COVID-19 (n = 453; 70.12%) and a critical group (n = 193; 29.87%). Genotype data on the GC, NADSYN1, VDR, and CYP2R1 genes along with data on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were compiled in patients admitted to a major hospital in the United Arab Emirates between April 2020 and January 2021. We identified 12 single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the critical COVID-19 condition: rs59241277, rs113574864, rs182901986, rs60349934, and rs113876500; rs4944076, rs4944997, rs4944998, rs4944979, and rs10898210; and rs11574018 and rs11574024. We report significant associations between genetic determinants of vitamin D metabolism and COVID-19 severity in the UAE population. Further research needed to clarify the mechanism of action against viral infection in vitamin D deficiency. These variants could be used with vaccination to manage the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and could be particularly valuable in populations in which vitamin D deficiency is common.

DOI

10.3390/nu13113680

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.