FM December 2020 digital P

the production of these antibodies
by B-lymphocytes. So, the need for
a genetic base for the treatment of
COVID-19 is not only obvious, but also
imperative.
COVID Human Genetic Effort
Even at the time of the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic, researcher Jean-
Laurent Casanova and his team set
up an international consortium, COVID
Human Genetic Effort, to identify the
genetic and immunological factors
that could explain the occurrence
of severe forms of the disease by
focusing on patients with the severe
forms. By targeting their research on a
specific mechanism of immunity - the
type-I interferon (IFN) pathway, the
researchers could highlight genetic
abnormalities in certain patients that
reduced the production of the type-I
interferon (3-4% of severe forms). In
other patients, they identified that
it was the history and prevalence of
autoimmune diseases that blocked
the action of type-I interferon (10-11%
of severe forms). All these discoveries
would thus explain severe forms of
COVID-19, which covered about 15%
of the total patient population. The
analysis of a control sample of 1,227
healthy people also facilitated an
evaluation of the prevalence of autoantibodies
against type-I interferon
at 0.33% in the general population, a
prevalence 15 times lower than that
observed in patients with severe
forms. These results suggest that the
general population should be
screened for these antibodies and
it can have a huge benefit in the
treatment regime.
The Franco-American laboratory of
Jean-Laurent Casanova and Laurent
Abel has already identified a hundred
genetic diseases that may explain
susceptibility to infections. While some
people recover more or less easily from
infections such as herpes, influenza,
tuberculosis and hepatitis A, others
develop serious clinical forms that can
even be fatal. This is because they
carry an alteration in a gene involved
December 2020 / FUTURE MEDICINE / 67