Tag Archives: 3p21

Covid-19 genetics – Any role of MIP1B?

The first GWAS of severe COVID-19 infection was published in the NEJM with the main hit at rs11385942 at locus 3p21.31, a region linked by the authors to LZTFL1. The GWAS catalogue points to MIP1B ( Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 1 beta, MIP-1b, CCL4) level that has been mapped there as well.

https://www.ebi.ac.uk/gwas/genes/LZTFL1
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5223028/

MIP-1B seems to be increased in patients with COVID-19 as a study showed that levels of various CCGFs, including PDGF-BB, CCL5/RANTES, CCL4/MIP-1β, IL-9, and TNF-β were upregulated in COVID-19 patients but negatively correlated to disease severity.

Supplement https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-020-0211-1

Another study measured also MIP-1B but no major effect

Supplement https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/139834/sd/1

A recent Frontiers review discusses the relationship to the cytokine storm in fatal COVID-19 infection but again no isolated effect. Nevertheless I have a gut feeling from a 1995 Science paper that it could be relevant as it was identified as the major HIV-SF produced by CD8+ T cells (which are so important also in COVID-19 recovery).