Novel risk loci for COVID-19 hospitalization among admixed American populations

Silvia Diz‐de Almeida; Raquel Cruz; André Ducati Luchessi; Jose Miguel Lorenzo-Salazar; Miguel López de Heredia; Inés Quintela; Rafaela González‐Montelongo; Vivian Nogueira Silbiger; Marta Sevilla Porras; Jair Antonio Tenorio; Julián B. Nevado; José María Aguado; Carlos Aguilar; Sergio Aguilera; Virginia Almadana Pacheco; Berta Almoguera; Núria Álvarez; Álvaro Andreu-Bernabeu; Eunate Arana‐Arri; Celso Arango; Maria Jesús Arranz; María-Jesús Artiga; Raúl Cuauhtemoc Baptista-Rosas; María Barreda‐Sánchez; Moncef Belhassen‐García; Joao F. Bezerra; Marcos AC Bezerra; Lucía Boix-Palop; Marı́a Brión; Ramón Brugada

doi:10.7554/elife.93666.3

Genetic & Genomic MedicineeLifeSep 16, 2024

Peer-reviewed journal article

Novel risk loci for COVID-19 hospitalization among admixed American populations

Silvia Diz‐de Almeida iD, Raquel Cruz iD, André Ducati Luchessi iD, Jose Miguel Lorenzo-Salazar iD, Miguel López de Heredia iD, Inés Quintela iD, Rafaela González‐Montelongo iD, Vivian Nogueira Silbiger iD, Marta Sevilla Porras iD, Jair Antonio Tenorio iD, Julián B. Nevado iD, José María Aguado iD, Carlos Aguilar, Sergio Aguilera iD, Virginia Almadana Pacheco iD, Berta Almoguera iD, Núria Álvarez, Álvaro Andreu-Bernabeu iD, Eunate Arana‐Arri iD, Celso Arango iD, Maria Jesús Arranz iD, María-Jesús Artiga iD, Raúl Cuauhtemoc Baptista-Rosas iD, María Barreda‐Sánchez iD, Moncef Belhassen‐García iD, , Juan Carlos Souto iD

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Abstract

The genetic basis of severe COVID-19 has been thoroughly studied, and many genetic risk factors shared between populations have been identified. However, reduced sample sizes from non-European groups have limited the discovery of population-specific common risk loci. In this second study nested in the SCOURGE consortium, we conducted a GWAS for COVID-19 hospitalization in admixed Americans, comprising a total of 4,702 hospitalized cases recruited by SCOURGE and seven other participating studies in the COVID-19 Host Genetic Initiative. We identified four genome-wide significant associations, two of which constitute novel loci and were first discovered in Latin American populations (BAZ2B and DDIAS). A trans-ethnic meta-analysis revealed another novel cross-population risk locus in CREBBP. Finally, we assessed the performance of a cross-ancestry polygenic risk score in the SCOURGE admixed American cohort. This study constitutes the largest GWAS for COVID-19 hospitalization in admixed Latin Americans conducted to date. This allowed to reveal novel risk loci and emphasize the need of considering the diversity of populations in genomic research.