Genetic factors associated with the risk of hypertension in patients with COVID-19

Genetic factors associated with the risk of hypertension in patients with COVID-19

V.I. Korchagin¹, K.O. Mironov¹, I.I. Gaponova¹, A.A. Ploskireva¹_, I.A. Demina², A.G. Komarova², V.G. Akimkin¹ 

¹Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of the Federal Service on Customers’ Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance, Moscow

²S.P. Botkin City Clinical Hospital, Moscow Aim: to identify the pathogenetic and prognostic significance of gene polymorphisms for the course prognosis and risk assessment of COVID-19 complications in patients with hypertension.

Patients and Methods: 153 patients with COVID-19 were examined. The infectious disease occurred in 95 patients during hypertension, in the remaining 58 patients there was no hypertension. In the observed patients, diseases that could affect the hypertension course, as well as secondary hypertension, were excluded. All patients underwent a complete check-up, which included, in particular, the determination of single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the analyzed genes (rs1937506, rs662, rs5186, rs5918, rs1143623, rs1799983). A sampling of 360 population specimen studied before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic at the same hospital was used as a population-based control group.

Results: rs1937506-A, rs662-G, rs1143623-C and rs1799983-T alleles were more common in the group of patients with hypertension. At the same time, the occurrence rate of the studied alleles in the group with SARS-CoV-2 was comparable to the general population, which indicated that inherited predisposition to hypertension was not a factor that increased the risk of COVID-19 disease, despite the pathogenetic patterns of SARS-CoV-2 and its interaction with the ACE2 receptor. It was found that the presence of the rs1937506-A allele in carriers of the AG and AA genotypes increased the risk of lower respiratory tract disorders in COVID–19, and the rs5186-C allele was possibly protective for carriers of the AS and CC genotypes. The risk of hyperprothrombinemia was reduced in carriers of the AA and AG genotypes (rs1937506 locus), while the risk of thrombosis was increased in carriers of the GG genotype.

Conclusion: conducting trials to identify certain genetic polymorphisms allows patients with hypertension to determine the risk groups for developing pneumonia in COVID-19, as well as those who need to monitor the parameters of the blood coagulation system after COVID-19.

Keywords: hypertension, genetic factors, genetic predisposition, SNP, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19.

For citation: Korchagin V.I., Mironov K.O., Gaponova I.I. et al. Genetic factors associated with the risk of hypertension in patients with COVID-19. RMJ. 2022;5:2–6.