Self-Reported Symptoms of COVID-19, Including Symptoms Most Predictive of SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Are Heritable

Frances M K Williams; Maxim B Freidin; Massimo Mangino; Simon Couvreur; Alessia Visconti; Ruth C E Bowyer; Caroline I Le Roy; Mario Falchi; Olatz Mompeó; Carole Sudre; Richard Davies; Christopher Hammond; Cristina Menni; Claire J Steves; Tim D Spector

doi:10.1017/thg.2020.85

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Self-Reported Symptoms of COVID-19, Including Symptoms Most Predictive of SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Are Heritable

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Frances M K Williams, Maxim B Freidin, Massimo Mangino, Simon Couvreur, Alessia Visconti, Ruth C E Bowyer, Caroline I Le Roy, Mario Falchi, Olatz Mompeó, Carole Sudre, Richard Davies, Christopher Hammond, Cristina Menni, Claire J Steves, Tim D Spector

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	316-321
Number of pages	6
Journal	TWIN RESEARCH AND HUMAN GENETICS
Volume	23
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2020.85
E-pub ahead of print	9 Feb 2021
Additional links	Link to publication in Scopus

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: FW receives funding for COVID-19 research from the Kennedy Trust and Versus Arthritis. TwinsUK is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, European Union, Chronic Disease Research Foundation (CDRF), Zoe Global Ltd and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded BioResource, Clinical Research Facility and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King's College London. Funding Information: FW receives funding for COVID-19 research from the Kennedy Trust and Versus Arthritis. TwinsUK is funded by the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, European Union, Chronic Disease Research Foundation (CDRF), Zoe Global Ltd and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded BioResource, Clinical Research Facility and Biomedical Research Centre based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London. Publisher Copyright: © Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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Abstract

Susceptibility to infection such as SARS-CoV-2 may be influenced by host genotype. TwinsUK volunteers (n = 3261) completing the C-19 COVID-19 symptom tracker app allowed classical twin studies of COVID-19 symptoms, including predicted COVID-19, a symptom-based algorithm to predict true infection, derived from app users tested for SARS-CoV-2. We found heritability of 49% (32-64%) for delirium; 34% (20-47%) for diarrhea; 31% (8-52%) for fatigue; 19% (0-38%) for anosmia; 46% (31-60%) for skipped meals and 31% (11-48%) for predicted COVID-19. Heritability estimates were not affected by cohabiting or by social deprivation. The results suggest the importance of host genetics in the risk of clinical manifestations of COVID-19 and provide grounds for planning genome-wide association studies to establish specific genes involved in viral infectivity and the host immune response.

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Self-Reported Symptoms of COVID-19, Including Symptoms Most Predictive of SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Are Heritable

Bibliographical note

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