Scientific Reports (May 2021)

Genetics of symptom remission in outpatients with COVID-19

  • Marie-Pierre Dubé,
  • Audrey Lemaçon,
  • Amina Barhdadi,
  • Louis-Philippe Lemieux Perreault,
  • Essaïd Oussaïd,
  • Géraldine Asselin,
  • Sylvie Provost,
  • Maxine Sun,
  • Johanna Sandoval,
  • Marc-André Legault,
  • Ian Mongrain,
  • Anick Dubois,
  • Diane Valois,
  • Emma Dedelis,
  • Jennifer Lousky,
  • Julie Choi,
  • Elisabeth Goulet,
  • Christiane Savard,
  • Lea-Mei Chicoine,
  • Mariève Cossette,
  • Malorie Chabot-Blanchet,
  • Marie-Claude Guertin,
  • Simon de Denus,
  • Nadia Bouabdallaoui,
  • Richard Marchand,
  • Zohar Bassevitch,
  • Anna Nozza,
  • Daniel Gaudet,
  • Philippe L. L’Allier,
  • Julie Hussin,
  • Guy Boivin,
  • David Busseuil,
  • Jean-Claude Tardif

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-90365-6
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Abstract We conducted a genome-wide association study of time to remission of COVID-19 symptoms in 1723 outpatients with at least one risk factor for disease severity from the COLCORONA clinical trial. We found a significant association at 5p13.3 (rs1173773; P = 4.94 × 10–8) near the natriuretic peptide receptor 3 gene (NPR3). By day 15 of the study, 44%, 54% and 59% of participants with 0, 1, or 2 copies of the effect allele respectively, had symptom remission. In 851 participants not treated with colchicine (placebo), there was a significant association at 9q33.1 (rs62575331; P = 2.95 × 10–8) in interaction with colchicine (P = 1.19 × 10–5) without impact on risk of hospitalisations, highlighting a possibly shared mechanistic pathway. By day 15 of the study, 46%, 62% and 64% of those with 0, 1, or 2 copies of the effect allele respectively, had symptom remission. The findings need to be replicated and could contribute to the biological understanding of COVID-19 symptom remission.