THE INFLUENCE OF HLA GENOTYPE ON SUSCEPTIBILITY TO, AND SEVERITY OF, COVID-19 INFECTION
Authors: Langton David J , Bourke Stephen C , Lie Benedicte A , Reiff Gabrielle , Natu Shonali , Darlay Rebecca , Burn John , Echevarria Carlos 
Published: January 2021

Background

The impact of COVID-19 varies markedly, not only between individual patients but also between different populations. We hypothesised that differences in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes might influence this variation.

Methods

Using next generation sequencing, we analysed the class I and class II classical HLA genes of 147 white British patients with variable clinical outcomes. 49 of these patients were admitted to hospital with severe COVID infection. They had no significant pre-existing comorbidities. We compared the results to those obtained from a group of 69 asymptomatic hospital workers who evidence of COVID exposure based on blood antibody testing. Allelic frequencies in both the severe and asymptomatic groups were compared to local and national healthy controls with adjustments made for age and sex. With the inclusion of hospital staff who had reported localised symptoms only (limited to loss of smell/taste, n=13) or systemic symptoms not requiring hospital treatment (n=16), we carried out ordinal logistic regression modelling to determine the relative influence of age, BMI, sex and the presence of specific HLA genes on symptomatology.

Findings

We found a significant difference in the allelic frequency of HLA-DRB1*04:01 in the severe patient compared to the asymptomatic staff group (5.1% versus 16.7%, p=0.003 after adjustment for age and sex). There was a significantly lower frequency of the haplotype DQA1*01:01/DQB1*05:01/DRB1*01:01 in the asymptomatic group compared to the background population (p=0.007). Ordinal logistic regression modelling confirmed the significant influence of DRB1*04:01 on the clinical severity of COVID-19 observed in the cohorts.

Interpretation

This study provides evidence that patient age, sex, BMI and HLA genotype interact to determine the clinical outcome of COVID-19 infection.

Research in context

Evidence before this study

HLA genes are implicated in host resistance or susceptibility to a range of pathogens. No studies thus far have compared HLA allele frequencies in patients requiring hospital admission following COVID-19 exposure to a group of asymptomatic individuals.

Added value of this study

The results indicate that the presence of HLA-DRB1*04:01 might confer protection from the development of respiratory failure following exposure to COVID. Individuals remaining asymptomatic following exposure to COVID are less likely to carry the haplotype DQA1*01:01/DQB1*05:01/DRB1*01:01 compared to the background population. This may indicate a host defence pathway not primarily dependent on an IgG response for clearance of infection. These findings conflict with larger genome wide association studies which compared HLA allelic frequencies of severely unwell patients with the background population.

Implications of all the available evidence

The findings could have implications for targeted vaccination regimes as well as helping assess the impact of social restrictions on mortality rates in different populations.