Researchers Svante Paabo from the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology of the Max Planck Society (Germany) and Hugo Seeberg from the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) discovered another genetic factor related to the Neanderthal heritage that affects the severity of the disease of COVID-19.
Their work is published on bioRxiv preprint server.
"Here we show that 2-8% of people in Eurasia carry a variant promoter region of the DPP4 gene inherited from Neanderthals. This gene encodes an enzyme that serves as a receptor for the MERS-CoV coronavirus
and currently it is not considered a SARS-CoV-2 receptor. However, the Neanderthal variant of DPP4 doubles the risk of severe disease of COVID-19,” say the researchers.
DPP4 is an enzyme that destroys a number of biologically active peptides, it is involved in several physiological systems, including the regulation of glucose metabolism. At the same time, the researchers note, DPP4 inhibitors are used to treat diabetes and, as it is assumed, affect the severity of the disease of COVID-19.
In September, Paabo and Seeberg discovered a Neanderthal haplotype cluster (cluster) of six genes on the third chromosome, which is associated with a higher risk of respiratory failure in patients infected with the coronavirus, and, on the contrary, protective regions on chromosomes 9 and 12, also inherited from Neanderthals.
According to the researchers, the Neanderthal haplotype is found in approximately 16% of the population of Europe and half of the population of South Asia. Residents of Africa and East Asia do not have these genes.
According to researchers, the prevalence of a certain Neanderthal group of genes is especially high among residents of Bangladesh, where about 63% of residents are carriers of this haplotype.
