TY - JOUR
T1 - Gene-Environment Interaction Analysis Incorporating Sex, Cardiometabolic Diseases, and Multiple Deprivation Index Reveals Novel Genetic Associations With COVID-19 Severity
AU - Westerman, Kenneth E.
AU - Lin, Joanna
AU - Sevilla-Gonzalez, Magdalena del Rocio
AU - Tadess, Beza
AU - Marchek, Casey
AU - Manning, Alisa K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Westerman, Lin, Sevilla-Gonzalez, Tadess, Marchek and Manning.
PY - 2022/1/12
Y1 - 2022/1/12
N2 - Increasing evidence indicates that specific genetic variants influence the severity of outcomes after infection with COVID-19. However, it is not clear whether the effect of these genetic factors is independent of the risk due to more established non-genetic demographic and metabolic risk factors such as male sex, poor cardiometabolic health, and low socioeconomic status. We sought to identify interactions between genetic variants and non-genetic risk factors influencing COVID-19 severity via a genome-wide interaction study in the UK Biobank. Of 378,051 unrelated individuals of European ancestry, 2,402 were classified as having experienced severe COVID-19, defined as hospitalization or death due to COVID-19. Exposures included sex, cardiometabolic risk factors [obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D), tested jointly], and multiple deprivation index. Multiplicative interaction was tested using a logistic regression model, conducting both an interaction test and a joint test of genetic main and interaction effects. Five independent variants reached genome-wide significance in the joint test, one of which also reached significance in the interaction test. One of these, rs2268616 in the placental growth factor (PGF) gene, showed stronger effects in males and in individuals with T2D. None of the five variants showed effects on a similarly-defined phenotype in a lookup in the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. These results reveal potential additional genetic loci contributing to COVID-19 severity and demonstrate the value of including non-genetic risk factors in an interaction testing approach for genetic discovery.
AB - Increasing evidence indicates that specific genetic variants influence the severity of outcomes after infection with COVID-19. However, it is not clear whether the effect of these genetic factors is independent of the risk due to more established non-genetic demographic and metabolic risk factors such as male sex, poor cardiometabolic health, and low socioeconomic status. We sought to identify interactions between genetic variants and non-genetic risk factors influencing COVID-19 severity via a genome-wide interaction study in the UK Biobank. Of 378,051 unrelated individuals of European ancestry, 2,402 were classified as having experienced severe COVID-19, defined as hospitalization or death due to COVID-19. Exposures included sex, cardiometabolic risk factors [obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D), tested jointly], and multiple deprivation index. Multiplicative interaction was tested using a logistic regression model, conducting both an interaction test and a joint test of genetic main and interaction effects. Five independent variants reached genome-wide significance in the joint test, one of which also reached significance in the interaction test. One of these, rs2268616 in the placental growth factor (PGF) gene, showed stronger effects in males and in individuals with T2D. None of the five variants showed effects on a similarly-defined phenotype in a lookup in the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. These results reveal potential additional genetic loci contributing to COVID-19 severity and demonstrate the value of including non-genetic risk factors in an interaction testing approach for genetic discovery.
KW - COVID-19
KW - gene-environment interaction
KW - genetic epidemiology
KW - sex differences
KW - socioeconomic status
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123419566&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fgene.2021.782172
DO - 10.3389/fgene.2021.782172
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 35096005
AN - SCOPUS:85123419566
VL - 12
JO - Frontiers in Genetics
JF - Frontiers in Genetics
SN - 1664-8021
M1 - 782172
ER -