Demographic, Clinical and Immunogenetic Profiles of a Greek Cohort of COVID-19 Patients.

Maria G Detsika,Maria Pagoni,Diamanto Kouniaki,Theofilos Athanassiades,Katerina Tarassi,Stylianos E Orfanos,Chara Giatra,Edison Jahaj,Vasiliki Kitsiou,Ioanna Dimopoulou,Alexandra Tsirogianni,Anastasia Kotanidou

doi:10.3390/life11101017

Abstract

The present cross-sectional study consists of a comprehensive analysis of epidemiological, laboratory, and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients in relation to their immunogenetic profiles. We studied 125 COVID-19 patients comprising different stages of disease severity; non-hospitalized (mild n = 69) and hospitalized (n = 56). Analysis of disease characteristics revealed no major differences between males and females of each group of patients while hospitalized patients were older and presented with comorbidities. A positive allele association was observed for HLA-DRB1*01 in total COVID-19 patients versus healthy controls. Subgrouping of COVID-19 patients in mild and hospitalized further identified a statistically significant increase in HLA-DRB1*01 in mild COVID-19 patients versus controls. The frequency of A*11, A*23, and DRB1*09 alleles was higher, while the frequency of C*12 was lower, in hospitalized patients versus healthy controls albeit with uncorrected statistical significance. The identification of specific allele associations may provide useful future markers for disease susceptibility in order to allow successful clinical management of COVID-19 patients.

Highlights

Since its outbreak in late December 2019 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic remains one of the most serious health emergencies
The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is mild with symptoms mimicking those of the common cold, in some cases, it may lead to severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [1]
An overwhelming host immune response against SARS-CoV-2 is observed characterized by an increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as by elevated inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and ferritin

Summary

Introduction

Since its outbreak in late December 2019 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic remains one of the most serious health emergencies. The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is mild with symptoms mimicking those of the common cold, in some cases, it may lead to severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [1]. In these patients, an overwhelming host immune response against SARS-CoV-2 is observed characterized by an increased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (cytokine storm) as well as by elevated inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and ferritin. Various studies on HLA and COVID-19 have emerged since the beginning of the outbreak on small cohorts from different regions. Initial reports from China and Europe described the association of certain alleles with COVID-19 such as HLA-C*07:29 and

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