Association of HLA-DRB111 and HLA-DRB112 gene polymorphism with COVID-19 in Burkina Faso

• Published in: BMC medical genomics Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 1 - 246
• Main Authors: Ouedraogo, Alfred Rakissida, Traoré, Lassina, Ouattara, Abdoul Karim, Ouedraogo, Alexis Rakiswende, Zongo, Sidnooma Véronique, Savadogo, Mousso, Lallogo, Tatiana Doriane, Sombie, Herman Karim, Sorgho, Pegdwendé Abel, Ouedraogo, Teega-wendé Clarisse, Djigma, Florencia Wendkuuni, Lamien, Assita Sanou, Yonli, Albert Théophane, Lompo, Olga Mélanie, Simporé, Jacques
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 16.10.2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Age groups; Alleles; Analysis; Antigens; Association analysis; Asymptomatic; Burkina Faso; Communicable diseases; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Development and progression; Disease susceptibility; Drb1 protein; Gene polymorphism; Genetic aspects; Genetic polymorphisms; Genetic research; Genotypes; Health aspects; Histocompatibility antigen HLA; Histocompatibility antigens; HLA histocompatibility antigens; HLA-DRB111; HLA-DRB112; Immune system; Infections; Infectious diseases; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Minority & ethnic groups; Older people; Pandemics; Population; Population genetics; Population studies; Risk factors; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Severe COVID-19; Viral infections; Burkina Faso; Africa
• ISSN: 1755-8794; 1755-8794
• DOI: 10.1186/s12920-023-01684-8

The clinical manifestations of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can vary widely, ranging from asymptomatic to severe, and may be influenced by the host genetic background. The aim of the present study was to determine the frequencies of HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 allele polymorphisms and their associations with COVID-19. In this cross-sectional study, 198 subjects were enrolled, including 150 COVID-19 positive cases and 48 subjects who tested negative for COVID-19. Participants were recruited from the emergency, intensive care, and infectious diseases departments of the Bogodogo Centre University Hospital (CHU-B) or the routine laboratory of Centre de Recherche Biomoléculaire Pietro Annigoni (CERBA). Genomic DNA was extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs samples and multiplex PCR-SSP was used to detect the HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles. The study was approved by CERS (â 2021-02-033). The positive cases were categorized into 38 asymptomatic (CC+), 60 symptomatic (NC+), and 52 severe cases (SC+). Females were more frequent in the overall study population (53.0%, 105/198) as well as in the negative group's CC- (68.75%, 33/48) and SC+ (57.69%, 30/52 negative groups, whereas males were more frequent in the CC+ (63.16%, 24/38) and NC+ (53.33%, 32/60) groups. The highest mean age was observed in the SC + group. A frequency of 19.19% (38/198) and 14.65% (29/198) was found for the HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles, respectively. Individuals carrying the HLA-DRB1*11 allele had an approximately sixfold higher risk of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR = 5.72 [1.683-19.442], p = 0.005) based on the association analysis. Altogether, the present study reports high frequency of HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*12 alleles within a population from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The results suggest that individuals carrying the HLA-DRB1*11 allele are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection but may not display symptoms.