Variants in AGTR2 gene in Maya people with COVID-19.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Totomoch-Serra A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8223127 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Health guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic led families around the world to spend more time isolated together, disrupting leisure activities, schooling, social interactions, and family work (UNICEF, 2021). Using the lens of Yucatec Maya families' cultural values and practices, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 Yucatec Maya rural women in Mexico (Mage = 32; and for comparison, 13 middle-class European-American women (Mage = 41)), with children 6-7 years old, to analyze families' experiences during the pandemic. Faced with the same isolation as in the United States, our exploratory analysis revealed Maya families experienced external stresses but at the same time were generally comfortable with their children's everyday activities and their social-emotional well-being, illuminating consequences of the communities' cultural theories about development.
| S-EPMC8653003 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The proposed SARS-CoV-2-induced dysregulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAAS) system results in endothelial dysfunction and microvascular thrombosis. The retinal plexuses contain terminal vessels without anastomotic connections, making the retina especially susceptible to ischemia. This study aimed to determine the role of selected polymorphisms of genes in the RAAS pathway in COVID-19 severity and their association with the presence of COVID-19 retinopathy. 69 hospitalized patients in the acute phase of COVID-19 without known systemic comorbidities and 96 healthy controls were enrolled in this prospective cross-sectional study. The retina was assessed with fundus photography using a Topcon DRI OCT Triton (Topcon Corp., Tokyo, Japan) in the COVID-19 unit. Genotyping of selected polymorphisms in the genes for ACE (rs4646994), ACE2 (rs2285666), and AGTR2 (rs1403543) was performed. The COVID-19 group was divided into mild (n = 12) and severe (n = 57), and then further divided according to the presence of COVID-19 retinopathy (Yes, n = 50; No, n = 19). The presence of the AGTR2 rs1403543-AA genotype was associated with a 3.8-fold increased risk of COVID-19 retinopathy (p = 0.05). The genotype frequencies of selected gene polymorphisms were not significantly associated with either the presence of COVID-19 or its severity. This is the first study demonstrating a borderline association of the AGTR2 rs1403543-AA genotype with COVID-19 retinopathy in males; hence, the AGTR2 rs 1403543 A allele might represent a genetic risk factor for COVID-19 retinopathy in males.
| S-EPMC9318051 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-BSST563 | biostudies-other
Project description:Background: Outcomes in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) are conditioned by viral control and regulation of inflammation. Variants in IFIH1, a gene coding the cytoplasmatic RNA sensor MDA5, regulate the response to viral infections. Methods: Patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) with documented COVID-19 were prospectively included and IFIH1 rs1990760 genotypes determined. Peripheral blood gene expression, cell populations and immune mediators were measured during the first day after ICU admission before steroid therapy. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers were exposed ex-vivo to an MDA5 agonist and dexamethasone, and changes in gene expression assessed. ICU discharge and hospital death were modelled using rs1990760 variants and dexamethasone therapy as factors. Findings: 237 patients were studied. Patients with the IFIH1 rs1990760 TT variant showed a decrease in expression of inflammation-related pathways, an anti-inflammatory cell profile and a decrease in pro-inflammatory mediators. Cells with TT variant exposed to an MDA5 agonist ex-vivo showed an increase in FOXO3 and IL6 when dexamethasone was added. All patients with the TT variant not treated with steroids (n=14) survived their ICU stay (HR 2.49 95% confidence interval 1.29 – 4.79). Dexamethasone therapy in this subgroup (N=50) delayed ICU discharge and increased hospital mortality (HR 2.19, 95% confidence interval 1.01 – 4.87) and serum IL-6 concentrations. Interpretation: COVID-19 ICU patients with the IFIH1 rs1990760 TT variant show an ameliorated inflammatory response that results in better outcomes than CC/CT variants. Dexamethasone can reverse this anti-inflammatory phenotype, worsening the outcome. Funding: Instituto de Salud Carlos III.
2021-07-03 | GSE168400 | GEO
Project description:This project is aimed at characterizing the interactions of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein and its variants with multiple full-length antibodies and monitoring the accompanying conformational dynamics. Different categories of antibodies are tested that recognize different domains of the Spike protein. The project aims at identifying the effects of weak, moderate and strong neutralizing antibodies on Spike protein and decipher their mechanisms of action. In addition to the direct binding effects, distal allosteric effects are also determined. A range of biophysical experiments, biochemical assays, and molecular dynamics simulations are used as orthogonal approaches. The rationale is to identify regions on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein that acts as indicators for antibody binding and use these hotspots to develop better neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and any future viral pandemics.
2023-10-09 | PXD043818 | Pride
Project description:BACKGROUND:The Guatemalan Highlands is a region of great but so far poorly known mycological diversity. People living in this area have long used wild fungi as a source of food and income. However, our knowledge of the ethnomycological practices of the Mayan peoples of Guatemala is still rudimental, especially if compared with information reported for the neighboring region of Mexico. Among the main indigenous groups of the Maya people inhabiting the highlands of Central Guatemala, stand the Kaqchikel, accounting for nearly 8% of the entire Guatemalan population. The main aim of this study was to record the traditional knowledge and use of edible wild mushrooms by inhabitants of the municipality of San Juan Sacatepéquez that lies at the heart of the Kaqchikel area in the central highlands of Guatemala, also describing the relevant selling practices and dynamics. A secondary aim was to compare the diversity and composition of the mushroom assemblage offered at the market with the macrofungal diversity of woods in the area. METHODOLOGY:This study is the result of 4?years of ethnomycological research, conducted through continuous visits to the municipal market and focused interviews with collectors and vendors. Field sampling in pine-oak forested areas surrounding San Juan Sacatepéquez, from where the mushrooms sold at the market are foraged, were also conducted, in the presence of local collectors. RESULTS:The results show a significant richness of species sold in the market, a network of commerce of purchase, sale, and resale of several species, with relatively stable prices, and knowledge about edible and inedible species that is transmitted mainly within the family nucleus. The business of selling mushrooms in the market is an exclusive activity of women, who are supplied by collectors or by other vendors. Fungi are sold and bought only as food, while no consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms or medicinal mushrooms was recorded. Several species of Amanita, Cantharellus, Boletus, Lactarius, and Russula were those most commercialized in the 4?years of the study, but we also spotted fungi never reported before as consumed in the country, including Gastropila aff. fumosa (= Calvatia fumosa) and several species of Cortinarius. Field sampling in nearby pine-oak forests confirmed an elevated local macrofungal diversity. CONCLUSION:Our study unveiled the contemporary wealth of Kaqchikel culture for what concerns mushrooms, demonstrating that mushrooms continue to be culturally and economically important for these communities despite the erosion of traditional knowledge. Our results also confirmed the need to investigate in greater detail the Guatemalan mycodiversity that is vast and poorly known.
| S-EPMC6637636 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The continued emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants is one of several factors that may cause false negative viral PCR test results. Such tests are also susceptible to false positive results due to trace contamination from high viral titer samples. Host immune response markers provide an orthogonal indication of infection that can mitigate these concerns when combined with direct viral detection. Here, we leverage nasopharyngeal swab RNA-seq data from patients with COVID-19, other viral acute respiratory illnesses and non-viral conditions (n=318) to develop support vector machine classifiers that rely on a parsimonious 2-gene host signature to diagnose COVID-19. We find that optimal classifiers include an interferon-stimulated gene that is strongly induced in COVID-19 compared with non-viral conditions, such as IFI6, and a second immune-response gene that is more strongly induced in other viral infections, such as GBP5. The IFI6+GBP5 classifier achieves an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) greater than 0.9 when evaluated on an independent RNA-seq cohort (n=553). We further provide proof-of-concept demonstration that the classifier can be implemented in a clinically relevant RT-qPCR assay. Finally, we show that its performance is robust across common SARS-CoV-2 variants and is unaffected by cross-contamination, demonstrating its utility for improving accuracy of COVID-19 diagnostics.
2021-11-15 | GSE188678 | GEO
Project description:Background: Outcomes in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) are conditioned by viral control and regulation of inflammation. Variants in IFIH1, a gene coding the cytoplasmatic RNA sensor MDA5, regulate the response to viral infections. Methods: Patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) with documented COVID-19 were prospectively included and IFIH1 rs1990760 genotypes determined. Peripheral blood gene expression, cell populations and immune mediators were measured during the first day after ICU admission before steroid therapy. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers were exposed ex-vivo to an MDA5 agonist and dexamethasone, and changes in gene expression assessed. ICU discharge and hospital death were modelled using rs1990760 variants and dexamethasone therapy as factors. Findings: 237 patients were studied. Patients with the IFIH1 rs1990760 TT variant showed a decrease in expression of inflammation-related pathways, an anti-inflammatory cell profile and a decrease in pro-inflammatory mediators. Cells with TT variant exposed to an MDA5 agonist ex-vivo showed an increase in FOXO3 and IL6 when dexamethasone was added. All patients with the TT variant not treated with steroids (n=14) survived their ICU stay (HR 2.49 95% confidence interval 1.29 – 4.79). Dexamethasone therapy in this subgroup (N=50) delayed ICU discharge and increased hospital mortality (HR 2.19, 95% confidence interval 1.01 – 4.87) and serum IL-6 concentrations. Interpretation: COVID-19 ICU patients with the IFIH1 rs1990760 TT variant show an ameliorated inflammatory response that results in better outcomes than CC/CT variants. Dexamethasone can reverse this anti-inflammatory phenotype, worsening the outcome. Funding: Instituto de Salud Carlos III.
2021-07-03 | GSE177025 | GEO
Project description: Not available
| S-BSST416 | biostudies-other
Project description:The Angiotensin system is implicated in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. First, ACE2 is the cellular receptor for SARS-CoV-2, and expression of the ACE2 gene could regulate the individuaĺs susceptibility to infection. In addition, the balance between ACE1 and ACE2 activity has been implicated in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases and could play a role in the severity of COVID-19. Functional ACE1/ACE2 gene polymorphisms have been associated with the risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, and could thus also contribute to the outcome of COVID-19. We studied 204 COVID-19 patients (137 non-severe and 67 severe-ICU cases) and 536 age-matched controls. The ACE1 insertion/deletion and ACE2 rs2285666 polymorphism were determined. Variables frequencies were compared between the groups by logistic regression. We also sequenced the ACE2 coding nucleotides in a group of patients. Severe COVID-19 was associated with hypertension male gender (p < 0.001), hypertension (p = 0.006), hypercholesterolaemia (p = 0.046), and the ACE1-DD genotype (p = 0.049). In the multiple logistic regression hypertension (p = 0.02, OR = 2.26, 95%CI = 1.12-4.63) and male gender (p = 0.002; OR = 3.15, 95%CI = 1.56-6.66) remained as independent significant predictors of severity. The ACE2 polymorphism was not associated with the disease outcome. The ACE2 sequencing showed no coding sequence variants that could explain an increased risk of developing COVID-19. In conclusion, an adverse outcome of COVID-19 was associated with male gender, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and the ACE1 genotype. Our work suggested that the ACE1-I/D might influence COVID-19 severity, but the effect was dependent on the hypertensive status. This result requires further validation in other large cohorts.
| S-EPMC7456966 | biostudies-literature