EFFECT OF HLA CLASS II POLYMORPHISM ON SUSCEPTIBILITY TO SARS-COV-2 INFECTION AND SEVERITY OF THE INFECTION PROCESS

The conducted studies have revealed the potential role of genetic variants of the main histocompatibility complex, which regulates the expression of human leukocyte antigen molecules (HLA) in the course of coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The aim: The aim - determine the relationship between HLA polymorphism and COVID-19, as well as the severity of the infection process in patients of the West Siberian of Russia. 260 patients with COVID-19 were examined after two months of convalescence. The comparison group included 372 residents of the Novosibirsk region. Genotyping alleles and alleles groups was performed using DNA-technology test-systems, Moscow. The IBM SPSS Statistics 23 and Arlequin 3.5.2 were used for statistical processing. An increase DRB1*15; DQA1*01:02 and decrease DRB1*03; DQA1*01:03; DQB1*05:03 frequency were detected in the COVID-19 patient relative control group. Differences remained only for DQA1*01:02 after Bonferroni correction. Three haplotypes were identified, which differed between the groups without Bonferroni correction. DRB1*07,15; DQA1*01:02,0201 and DQB1*02,06:02-08 frequency prevailed in patients relative control group. DRB1*07,15-DQB1*02,06:02-08; DQA1*01:02,02:01-DQB1*02,06-02-08 and DRB1*07,15-DQA1*01:02,02:01-DQB1*02,06:02-08 combinations prevailed in COVID-19 patients relative control group. Genotypes DRB1*07,11; DRB1*11,15 and combinations DRB1*07,11-DQA1*02:01,05:01; DRB1*11,15-DQA1*01:02,05:01; DRB1*11,15-DQB1*03:01,06:02-08, DRB1*11,15-DQA1*01:02,05:01-DQB1*03:01,06:02-08 were present only in patients with severe disease. DRB1*11, DRB1*07,11 and DRB1*07,11-DQA1*02:01,05:01 were higher in the combined group with severe plus moderate severity of the disease relative to the group of patients with mild disease. These results obtained make a definite contribution to clarifying the role of HLA- polymorphism in COVID-19 not only in Western Siberia, but also in the Russian Federation as a whole. Researches are needed with an increase in sample size, which is likely to overcome the threshold of significance when correcting for the multiplicity of alleles.

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