AUTHOR=Kotur Nikola , Skakic Anita , Klaassen Kristel , Gasic Vladimir , Zukic Branka , Skodric-Trifunovic Vesna , Stjepanovic Mihailo , Zivkovic Zorica , Ostojic Olivera , Stevanovic Goran , Lavadinovic Lidija , Pavlovic Sonja , Stankovic Biljana 

TITLE=Association of Vitamin D, Zinc and Selenium Related Genetic Variants With COVID-19 Disease Severity

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.689419

DOI=10.3389/fnut.2021.689419

ISSN=2296-861X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be an unrelenting health threat for more than a year now. The emerging amount of data indicates that vitamin D, zinc and selenium could be important for clinical presentation of COVID-19. Here, we investigated association of genetic variants related to the altered level and bioavailability of vitamin D, zinc and selenium with clinical severity of COVID-19.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We analyzed variants in genes significant for the status of vitamin D (<italic>DHCR7</italic>/<italic>NADSYN1</italic> rs12785878, GC rs2282679, <italic>CYP2R1</italic> rs10741657, and <italic>VDR</italic> rs2228570), zinc (<italic>PPCDC</italic> rs2120019) and selenium (<italic>DMGDH</italic> rs17823744) in 120 Serbian adult and pediatric COVID-19 patients using allelic discrimination. Furthermore, we carried out comparative population genetic analysis among European and other worldwide populations to investigate variation in allelic frequencies of selected variants.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Study showed that <italic>DHCR7/NADSYN</italic> rs12785878 and <italic>CYP2R1</italic> rs10741657 variants were associated with severe COVID-19 in adults (<italic>p</italic> = 0.03, <italic>p</italic> = 0.017, respectively); carriers of <italic>DHCR7/NADSYN</italic> TG+GG and <italic>CYP2R1</italic> GG genotypes had 0.21 and 5.9 the odds for developing severe disease, OR 0.21 (0.05–0.9) and OR 5.9 (1.4–25.2), respectively. There were no associations between selected genetic variants and disease severity in pediatric patients. Comparative population genetic analysis revealed that Serbian population had the lowest frequency of <italic>CYP2R1</italic> rs10741657 G allele compared to other non-Finish Europeans (0.58 compared to 0.69 and 0.66 in Spanish and Italian population, respectively), suggesting that other populations should also investigate the relationship of <italic>CYP2R1</italic> variant and the COVID-19 disease course.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> The results of the study indicated that vitamin D related genetic variants were implicated in severe COVID-19 in adults. This could direct prevention strategies based on population specific nutrigenetic profiles.</p>