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London, Nov 5 (PTI) Scientists at the University of Oxford have identified a gene that may double the risks of lung failure and death from COVID-19, and could explain why people of South Asian ancestry have a higher risk of severe disease.<\/p>\n
The LZTFL1 gene changes the way the lungs respond to viral infection, and is the most important genetic risk factor identified so far, the researchers said.<\/p>\n
They noted that the gene version is carried by nearly 60 per cent of people with South Asian background, compared with 15 per cent of those with European lineage.<\/p>\n
The finding, published in the journal Nature Genetics on Thursday, could also partly explain the impact of COVID-19 in the Indian subcontinent.<\/p>\n
The researchers used a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and new molecular technology to pinpoint LZTFL1 as a gene responsible for the increased risks.<\/p>\n
LZTFL1 blocks a key protective mechanism that cells lining the lungs normally use to defend themselves from the viral infection, they said.<\/p>\n
When these cells interact with SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, one of their defence strategies is to turn into less specialised cells and become less welcoming to the virus.<\/p>\n
This process reduces the amount on the surface of cells of a key protein called ACE2, which the coronavirus uses to attach itself to the cells.<\/p>\n
However, for people with the LZTFL1 gene this process does not work as well, and lung cells are left vulnerable to infection by the virus.<\/p>\n
The researchers noted that it is particularly important to offer vaccination to communities that are at greater risk of serious COVID-19 infection as a consequence of carrying this genetic predisposition, as their increased risk should be cancelled out by immunisation.<\/p>\n
Independent experts said the findings are very important but warrant further investigation.<\/p>\n
The discrepancy between the risk of serious disease and death in different ethnic groups has previously been attributed in part to socio-economic differences, but it was clear that this was not a complete explanation,” said Professor Frances Flinter, from Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, UK.<\/p>\n
Evidence that LZTFL1 has emerged as a candidate causal gene, which is potentially responsible for some of the two-fold increased risk of respiratory failure from COVID-19 in some populations, provides a big step forward in our understanding of the variable susceptibility of some individuals to serious disease and death, Flinter, who was not involved in the study, added.<\/p>\n
Simon Biddie, from the University of Edinburgh, UK, said the study provides compelling evidence to suggest roles for LZFTL1 in severe COVID-19 that warrants urgent further investigation.<\/p>\n
The finding will need further experimental verification to provide direct evidence for regulation of LZTFL1, using for example genome engineering approaches,” Biddie, who was not a part of the study, added.<\/p>\n
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London, Nov 5 (PTI) Scientists at the University of Oxford have identified a gene that may double the risks of lung failure and death from COVID-19, and could explain why people of South Asian ancestry have a higher risk of severe disease. The LZTFL1 gene changes the way the lungs respond to viral infection, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-175988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175988\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}