Immunogenetic Characterization of COVID-19 Disease (IC-COVID-19)

  • Funded by Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung [German Federal Ministry of Education and Research] (BMBF)
  • Total publications:2 publications

Grant number: 01KI20177

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Key facts

  • Disease

    COVID-19
  • Start & end year

    2020
    2021
  • Known Financial Commitments (USD)

    $415,317.94
  • Funder

    Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung [German Federal Ministry of Education and Research] (BMBF)
  • Principal Investigator

    Prof. Johannes Schetelig
  • Research Location

    Germany
  • Lead Research Institution

    Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden
  • Research Priority Alignment

    N/A
  • Research Category

    Clinical characterisation and management

  • Research Subcategory

    Prognostic factors for disease severity

  • Special Interest Tags

    N/A

  • Study Type

    Clinical

  • Clinical Trial Details

    Not applicable

  • Broad Policy Alignment

    Pending

  • Age Group

    Unspecified

  • Vulnerable Population

    Other

  • Occupations of Interest

    Health Personnel

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic will remain a world-wide threat for the next year. It is unknown why some people get severely ill while others have mild or even asymptomatic infections. With this epidemiological study we want to investigate immunogenetic parameters which may determine the clinical course of COVID-19. We plan for a cohort study with approximately 10,000 patients to test two hypotheses: 1) Patients who present at a testing site with SARS-CoV-2 show a specific repertoire of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)- and Killer Immunoglobulin-like Receptor (KIR)-genes. 2) Patients with severe COVID-19 courses have a different immunogenetic HLA- and KIR-gene repertoire compared to patients with mild or moderate symptoms. The hypotheses will be tested in a case-control study and a cross sectional study. We will use leftover material of the diagnostic pharyngeal swab for HLA- and KIR-genotyping. In the cross-sectional study the genotype distribution will be compared among patients with different disease courses. For the case-control study we will use genotype information available on more than 7 million stem cell donors registed with DKMS. If high risk ratios can be revealed for certain genotypes, this information will help identifying high risk individuals among patients and health care workers by a simple non-invasive genetic test. High risk individuals may benefit from more stringent isolation or pre-emptive measures while low risk individuals, who more often have asymptomatic infections, should strictly wear protective masks in order not to spread the virus.

Publicationslinked via Europe PMC

Individual HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 Genotypes Are No Major Factors Which Determine COVID-19 Severity.

Blood group A epitopes do not facilitate entry of SARS-CoV-2.