Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

South Asians at higher risk of death from Covid, Oxford study says

South Asians at higher risk of death from Covid, Oxford study says

SCIENTISTS at the University of Oxford have identified a gene that may double the risk of lung failure and death from Covid-19, and could explain why people of south Asian origin have a higher risk of severe disease.

The LZTFL1 gene changes the way the lungs respond to viral infection, and is the most important genetic risk factor identified so far, researchers said.


They noted that the gene version is carried by nearly 60 per cent of people with south Asian background, compared to 15 per cent of those with European lineage.

The finding, published in the journal Nature Genetics on Thursday (4), could also partly explain the impact of Covid-19 in the Indian subcontinent.

The researchers used a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and new molecular technology to pinpoint LZTFL1 as a gene responsible for the increased risks.

LZTFL1 blocks a key protective mechanism that cells lining the lungs normally used to defend themselves from the viral infection, they said.

When these cells interact with SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, one of their defence strategies is to turn into less specialised cells and become less welcoming to the virus.

This process reduces the amount on the surface of cells of a key protein called ACE2, which the coronavirus uses to attach itself to the cells.

However, for people with the LZTFL1 gene this process does not work as well, and lung cells are left vulnerable to infection by the virus.

The researchers noted that it is particularly important to offer vaccination to communities that are at greater risk of serious Covid-19 infection as a consequence of carrying this genetic predisposition, as their increased risk should be cancelled out by immunisation.

Independent experts said the findings are very important but warrant further investigation.

"The discrepancy between the risk of serious disease and death in different ethnic groups has previously been attributed in part to socio-economic differences, but it was clear that this was not a complete explanation," said Professor Frances Flinter, from Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, UK.

"Evidence that LZTFL1 has emerged as a candidate causal gene, which is potentially responsible for some of the two-fold increased risk of respiratory failure from Covid-19 in some populations, provides a big step forward in our understanding of the variable susceptibility of some individuals to serious disease and death," Flinter, who was not involved in the study, added.

Simon Biddie, from the University of Edinburgh, UK, said the study provides compelling evidence to suggest roles for LZFTL1 in severe Covid-19 that warrants urgent further investigation.

"The finding will need further experimental verification to provide direct evidence for regulation of LZTFL1, using genome engineering approaches," Biddie, who was not a part of the study, added.

(PTI)

More For You

Salman Rushdie

Rushdie was stabbed about 15 times: in the head, neck, torso and left hand, blinding his right eye and damaging his liver and intestines. (Photo: Getty Images)

Rushdie attack trial begins as jurors shown graphic details

JURORS heard how a knife attack on novelist Salman Rushdie unfolded in a matter of seconds at a 2022 New York talk and how close he came to death, in the prosecutor's opening statement on Monday (10) at the trial of the man accused of trying to murder the author.

A poet introducing the talk, on the subject of keeping writers safe from harm, was barely into his second sentence when defendant Hadi Matar bounded onto the Chautauqua Institution open-air stage and made about 10 running steps towards a seated Rushdie, Chautauqua District Attorney Jason Schmidt told the jury.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Yvette-Cooper-Getty

Home secretary Yvette Cooper said employers had for too long been able to "exploit illegal migrants and too many people have been able to arrive and work illegally with no enforcement action ever taken". (Photo: Getty Images)

Immigration arrests up 73 per cent in January

UK immigration enforcement teams made more than 600 arrests in January, a 73 per cent increase on the same period a year ago, as part of the Labour government's plan to tackle undocumented migration and people smuggling gangs, officials said on Monday (10).

The 609 arrests, compared to 352 in January 2024, were made during visits to 800 premises including nail bars, restaurants, car washes and convenience stores, a government statement said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi-Macron

Modi and Macron will also hold discussions in restricted and delegation-level formats and address the India-France CEO’s Forum. (Photo: X/@narendramodi)

Modi meets Macron and JD Vance in Paris

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by French president Emmanuel Macron at a dinner at the Élysée Palace in Paris. Macron greeted Modi with a hug as they met on Monday.

"Delighted to meet my friend, President Macron in Paris," Modi posted on X.

Keep ReadingShow less
Harshita Brella

The body of the 24-year-old was discovered in the boot of a car in Ilford, east London, on November 14 last year.

Harshita Brella’s family seeks answers as fundraiser launched

AN ASIAN solicitor and businessman has set up a fund in memory of Harshita Brella, who was found murdered in east London in November last year.

The Harshita Brella Memorial Fund, organised by Amrit S Maan OBE JP, aims to support her family as they seek answers about her death.

Keep ReadingShow less
Protesters rally against China's planned mega-embassy in London

A protestor is detained by the police during a demonstration against the proposed site of the new Chinese Embassy, outside Royal Mint Court, in London. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

Protesters rally against China's planned mega-embassy in London

HUNDREDS of demonstrators protested at a site earmarked for Beijing's controversial new embassy in London over human rights and security concerns.

The new embassy -- if approved by the UK government -- would be the "biggest Chinese embassy in Europe", one lawmaker said earlier.

Keep ReadingShow less