(ANSA) – ROME, MAY 09 – At least three rare genetic mutations are at the origin of asymptomatic cases of Covid-19. They act by weakening the genes involved in the activation processes of the immune system and their discovery, which took place in Italy, could pave the way for new diagnostic techniques and new therapies. Published in the journal Genetics in Medicine, the result is due to the Ceinge-Biotechnology group of Naples directed by Mario Capasso and Achille Iolascon, both professors of Medical Genetics at the Federico II University of Naples. The data is now available online to all researchers around the world.
The research, with the collaboration of Pellegrino Cerino, of the Zooprophylactic Institute of Portici, and Massimo Zollo, coordinator of the Covid del Ceinge task force and professor of Genetics at Federico II, was based on the analysis of DNA samples of about 800 individuals. remained asymptomatic after SarsCoV2 infection, despite having risk factors such as older age. “All the genes known so far have been analyzed using the latest generation sequencers and thus obtaining an enormous amount of genetic data”, notes Capasso.
“Advanced bioinformatics analysis strategies, developed thanks to the contribution of the young researcher Giuseppe D’Alterio and the team of bioinformatics experts from Ceinge – he continues – then allowed to identify rare pathogenetic mutations that were significantly more frequent in infected and asymptomatic subjects and not in a large series of about 57,000 healthy subjects “.
There are three genes involved in asymptomatic infections, they are called Masp1, Colec10 and Colec11 and belong to the lectin family of proteins, the protein involved in the cell recognition process. “Today it is widely demonstrated that the excessive immune response to SarsCoV2 infection and the subsequent hyper-activation of pro-inflammatory and pro-coagulation processes are the main cause of damage to organs such as lungs, heart, kidney”, observes Capasso, and “our research shows that mutations in the human genome that attenuate this excessive immune reaction can predispose to infection without severe symptoms.” (HANDLE).
Source: Ansa
I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years now and I have worked for some of the biggest news websites in the world. My focus has always been on entertainment news, but I also cover a range of other topics. I am currently an author at Global happenings and I love writing about all things pop-culture related.
