Frontiers in Genetics (Sep 2020)

Genetic Association of ACE2 rs2285666 Polymorphism With COVID-19 Spatial Distribution in India

  • Anshika Srivastava,
  • Audditiya Bandopadhyay,
  • Debashurti Das,
  • Rudra Kumar Pandey,
  • Vanya Singh,
  • Nargis Khanam,
  • Nikhil Srivastava,
  • Prajjval Pratap Singh,
  • Pavan Kumar Dubey,
  • Abhishek Pathak,
  • Pranav Gupta,
  • Niraj Rai,
  • Gazi Nurun Nahar Sultana,
  • Gyaneshwer Chaubey

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2020.564741
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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Studies on host-pathogen interaction have identified human ACE2 as a host cell receptor responsible for mediating infection by coronavirus (COVID-19). Subsequent studies have shown striking difference of allele frequency among Europeans and Asians for a polymorphism rs2285666, present in ACE2. It has been revealed that the alternate allele (TT-plus strand or AA-minus strand) of rs2285666 elevate the expression level of this gene upto 50%, hence may play a significant role in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility. Therefore, we have first looked the phylogenetic structure of rs2285666 derived haplotypes in worldwide populations and compared the spatial frequency of this particular allele with respect to the COVID-19 infection as well as case-fatality rate in India. For the first time, we ascertained a significant positive correlation for alternate allele (T or A) of rs2285666, with the lower infection as well as case-fatality rate among Indian populations. We trust that this information will be useful to understand the role of ACE2 in COVID-19 susceptibility.

Keywords