Studies have revealed the role of genes in both dementia and severe Covid-19. World news

People with genetic mutations that increase the risk of dementia are also more likely to develop severe Covid-19. Revealed..

This research is the latest proposal Genetics may play a role It may help explain why some people are more vulnerable to coronaviruses than others and why people with dementia are being hit hard: dementia One of the most common underlying health conditions Among the people who died at Covid-19 in England and Wales.

“It’s not just age. It’s an example of a specific genetic mutation that causes vulnerability to some people,” said David Melzer, a professor of epidemiology and public health at the University of Exeter and co-author of the study. Said.

Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, Melzer, and colleagues report how they analyzed data from UK Biobank, a research activity that collected genetic and health data on 500,000 volunteers aged 48 to 86 years. ..

The team focused on a gene called ApoE – which produces the proteins involved in carrying fat around the body and may exist in several forms. One such variant, called “e4”, is known to not only affect cholesterol levels and processes involved in inflammation, but also increase risk of heart disease and dementia.

Researchers say 9,022 of the 383,000 European ancestor biobank participants surveyed have two copies of the e4 variant, and more than 223,000 have two copies of the variant called’e3 ‘. I found that. The former, when added by the team, can increase the risk of dementia up to 14 times higher than the latter.

The team then tested for positive Covid-19 tests between March 16 and April 26, suggesting that coronavirus testing was mostly done in hospitals, suggesting the cases were severe. It was

As a result, 37 patients were determined to be Covid-19-positive, with 2 copies of the e4 variant of ApoE compared to 2 copies of the e3 variant of 401. The team says that people with two e4 variants more than doubled the risk of Covid-19 more seriously than those with two e3 variants, after taking into account various factors such as age and gender.

The findings aren’t limited to people who are more likely to live in a nursing home with the two e4 variants, according to Melzer. .. None of the Covid-19 positive participants with the two e4 variants of the ApoE gene had a diagnosis of dementia.

“It’s pretty resilient – ​​after removing any associated illness, the association is still there, which means it’s as if it’s a genetic mutation that does it … this association is actually dementia. It’s not driven by people suffering from illness, “Melzer said.

The team says more work is needed to break the link.

University of Edinburgh neurodegeneration expert Tala Spears Jones, who is not involved in the study, said that although many biobank participants have a strong association between ApoE genetic mutation and Covid-19 risk. The former, who said it emphasized research, did not prove the latter. Nevertheless, she said, the study was important.

“The role of ApoE in the immune system may be important in disease, and future research could use this to develop effective treatments,” she said.

Fiona Carragher, a research and influential director of the Alzheimer’s Society, said that people with dementia and their families are desperately concerned that the government needs to take urgent action to protect people with dementia. I added that there is. But she said more research is needed to explore the possible links between the epo variant of ApoE and severe Covid-19.

“It is difficult to draw a firm conclusion at this stage because other factors may have contributed. But why people with dementia appear to be at higher risk, and what is their ethnicity or genetics? More detailed studies are urgently needed to fully understand how such factors may play a role. “

But Professor David Curtis, an emeritus professor at the UCL Institute of Genetics, cautioned. He pointed out that within the limits of the study, the recent diagnosis of dementia is unlikely to be captured e3 variant.

“This study doesn’t really convince me to be the ApoE e4 allele. [gene variant] He is an independent risk factor for really serious Covid-19 infections, “he said. “I would like to see a sample in which this can more reliably exclude dementia, perhaps one that was tested in a younger cohort. Additional data will soon be revealed to clarify the issue. I think it will be. “