Association of <i>HLA‐<scp>DRB1</scp>*09:01</i> with severe <scp>COVID</scp>‐19
Alitzel Anzurez, Izumi Naka, Shoji Miki, Kaori Nakayama‐Hosoya, Mariko Isshiki, Yusuke Watanabe, Midori Nakamura‐Hoshi, Sayuri Seki, Takayuki Matsumura, Tomohiro Takano, Taishi Onodera, Yu Adachi, Saya Moriyama, Kazutaka Terahara, Natsuo Tachikawa, Yoshihiro Yoshimura, Hiroaki Sasaki, Hiroshi Horiuchi, Nobuyuki Miyata, Kazuhito Miyazaki, Michiko Koga, Kazuhiko Ikeuchi, Hiroyuki Nagai, Makoto Saito, Eisuke Adachi, Hiroshi Yotsuyanagi, Satoshi Kutsuna, Akira Kawashima, Yusuke Miyazato, Noriko Kinoshita, Chiyoko Kouno, Kensuke Tanaka, Yoshimasa Takahashi, Tadaki Suzuki, Tetsuro Matano, Jun Ohashi, Ai Kawana‐Tachikawa
Abstract
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.