Association of HLA-DRB1*09:01 with severe COVID-19.
Alitzel AnzurezIzumi NakaShoji MikiKaori Nakayama-HosoyaMariko IsshikiYusuke WatanabeMidori Nakamura-HoshiSayuri SekiTakayuki MatsumuraTomohiro TakanoTaishi OnoderaYu AdachiSaya MoriyamaKazutaka TeraharaNatsuo TachikawaYoshihiro YoshimuraHiroaki SasakiHiroshi HoriuchiNobuyuki MiyataKazuhito MiyazakiMichiko KogaKazuhiko IkeuchiHiroyuki NagaiMakoto SaitoEisuke AdachiHiroshi YotsuyanagiSatoshi KutsunaAkira KawashimaYusuke MiyazatoNoriko KinoshitaChiyoko KounoKensuke TanakaYoshimasa TakahashiTadaki SuzukiTetsuro MatanoJun OhashiAi Kawana-TachikawaPublished in: HLA (2021)
HLA-A, -C, -B, and -DRB1 genotypes were analyzed in 178 Japanese COVID-19 patients to investigate the association of HLA with severe COVID-19. Analysis of 32 common HLA alleles at four loci revealed a significant association between HLA-DRB1*09:01 and severe COVID-19 (odds ratio [OR], 3.62; 95% CI, 1.57-8.35; p = 0.00251 [permutation p value = 0.0418]) when age, sex, and other common HLA alleles at the DRB1 locus were adjusted. The DRB1*09:01 allele was more significantly associated with risk for severe COVID-19 compared to preexisting medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. These results indicate a potential role for HLA in predisposition to severe COVID-19.