Associations of Polymorphism of rs9944155, rs1051052, and rs1243166 Locus Allele in Alpha-1-antitrypsin with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Uygur Population of Kashgar Region

[Regional experience of a comprehensive dynamic assessment of the adolescents' health status with post-COVID-19 syndrome during aftercare in a sanatorium]

OBJECTIVE

To determine the characteristics of sanatorium-resort therapy impact on children with post-COVID-19 syndrome of various severity, as well as to reveal association of its severity with family history data and genetic polymorphisms of alpha-1-antitrypsin-serpin-1 complex.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This 2-week retrospective cohort study involved 42 adolescents after new coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The first group included 28 (67%) patients (mean age 13.1±0.8 years) after mild COVID-19 (without confirmed coronavirus pneumonia), the second group - 14 (33%) patients (mean age 14.5±0.1.2 years) after moderate or severe disease (with confirmed coronavirus pneumonia). A complex of procedures, according to the approved standard, was prescribed for all patients admitted after outpatient and hospital treatment to the pulmonology department of the state children's sanatorium in order to aftercare. The certain follow-up parameters were evaluated: symptoms severity, life quality, respiratory function and respiratory gases, as well as family medical history and alpha-1-antitrypsin-serpin-1 complex.

RESULTS

Patients after moderate and severe COVID-19 had initially lower and less dynamic growth of integral life quality index, more torpid follow-up rates of spirometry, pulse oximetry and exhaled gases. Additionally, the higher incidence degree of adverse family medical history associated with respiratory illnesses was established in the group after new coronavirus infection. Moreover, relatively more deficient alpha-1-antitrypsin and more frequent heterozygous polymorphism type of serpin-1 were found in the group after severe new coronavirus infection.

CONCLUSION

The revealed complex of epigenetic and genetic factors may indicate various risk and development phenotypes of both acute and chronic respiratory diseases.

Associations Between CYP17A1 and SERPINA6/A1 Polymorphisms, and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Black South Africans

Research in European and Asian populations has reported associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CYP17A1 and SERPINA6/A1 and circulating glucocorticoid concentrations, and some key cardiometabolic risk factors. This study aimed to investigate these associations in black South African adults, who are disproportionally affected by the metabolic syndrome and its related cardiometabolic risk factors. The dataset included black South African adults (n = 4,431; 56.7% women) from the AWI-Gen study, genotyped on the H3A genotyping array and imputed using the African reference panel at the Sanger imputation service. From the imputed data, 31 CYP17A1 SNPs and 550 SERPINA6/A1 SNPs were extracted. The metabolic syndrome and its components were defined using the 2009 harmonized guidelines. Serum glucocorticoid concentrations were measured in a subset of 304 men and 573 women, using a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. Genetic associations were detected using PLINK. Bonferroni correction was used to control for multiple testing. A SNP at SERPINA6/A1, rs17090691 (effect allele G), was associated with higher diastolic blood pressure (BP) in all adults combined (p = 9.47 × 10-6). Sex-stratified analyses demonstrated an association between rs1051052 (effect allele G), another SERPINA6/A1 SNP, and higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentrations in women (p = 1.23 × 10-5). No association was observed between these variants and glucocorticoids or between any of the CYP17A1 SNPs and metabolic outcomes after adjusting for multiple testing. Furthermore, there were no associations between any of the SNPs tested and the metabolic syndrome. This study reports novel genetic associations between two SNPs at SERPINA6/A1 and key cardiometabolic risk factors in black South Africans. Future replication and functional studies in larger populations are required to confirm the role of the identified SNPs in the metabolic syndrome and assess if these associations are mediated by circulating glucocorticoids.