AIDS or covid?
Elena Krasnova, "Search"
The genetic variant of the risk of severe COVID-19, inherited from Neanderthals, reduces the risk of human infection with HIV by 27%, experts from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology found.
Hugo Zeberg's article The major genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 is associated with protection against HIV is published in the journal PNAS – VM.
Some people become seriously ill when infected with SARS-CoV-2, while others show only mild symptoms of the disease or they are absent altogether. In addition to risk factors (old age and chronic diseases), our genetic heritage also affects the individual risk of the severity of COVID-19.
In the fall of 2020, Hugo Zeberg from the Karolinska Institute showed that we inherited the main genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19 from Neanderthals. In the spring of 2021, the same duo of researchers studied this variant of ancient human DNA and noticed that its frequency had increased significantly since the last ice Age. In fact, it has become unexpectedly common for a genetic variant inherited from Neanderthals. Therefore, it could favorably influence its bearers in the past.
"This major genetic risk factor for COVID-19 is so common that I started to wonder if it could actually be useful for something, like protecting against another infectious disease," says Zeberg.
The genetic risk factor is located on chromosome 3, which consists of many genes. Nearby there are several genes that encode the receptors of the immune system. One of these receptors, CCR5, is used by the HIV virus to infect white blood cells. Zeberg found that people with the COVID-19 risk factor had fewer CCR5 receptors. This prompted him to check if they also had a lower risk of contracting HIV. Analyzing data on patients from three major biobanks (FinnGen, UK Biobank and Michigan Genomic Initiative), the scientist: carriers of the COVID-19 risk variant had a 27% lower risk of HIV infection.
"This shows that a genetic variant can be both good and bad news. The bad news is that the carrier of this variant will become infected with COVID-19. The good news is that this option provides protection against HIV infection," says Zeberg.
However, since HIV emerged only in the 20th century, it has not yet been possible to explain how this variant of the gene became common among humans 10,000 years ago.
"Now we know that this risky option for COVID-19 provides protection against HIV. But it was probably a defense against another disease that increased its frequency after the last ice age," concludes Zeberg.
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