Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been trying to understand why, even among people of a similar age, some contract it asymptomatically and others struggle for their lives without always winning the battle.
Thanks to the research conducted by scientists from the Medical University of Bialystok, we are getting closer and closer to understanding this phenomenon. In the project led by prof. dr. hab. n. med. Marcin Moniuszko and dr. hab. n. biol. Mirosław Kwaśniewski managed to identify a genetic variant that more than doubles the risk of severe course and death from COVID-19.
It is estimated that even 14% of Poles have it, although in the overall European population it occurs with a frequency of about 9%. According to the authors of the finding, it could help in the early identification of those most at risk.
A study that was carried out in nearly 1,500 COVID-19 patients as part of a project funded by the Medical Research Agency confirmed that our genes significantly influence how we can contract COVID-19. The study was led by the Medical University of Bialystok together with a technological partner, ImageneMe, the Institute of Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis in Warsaw. The enormous involvement of a dozen or so clinical centers from all over the country was also particularly important.
The study showed that in addition to advanced age and obesity, our genetic profile is a risk factor for the severe course of COVID-19, and even more important than so-called comorbidities. Having one of the versions of the gene located on chromosome 3 means that in the event of a coronavirus infection, we are more than twice as likely to suffer from severe and even fatal COVID-19.
The results of this discovery allow for the creation of a relatively simple genetic test (with a degree of difficulty similar to the current testing for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus), which, by identifying a genetic variant related to chromosome 3, would help even better identify people at risk of acute diseases.
- Although the results of our research are still a scientific discovery, we hope that on their basis a test will be created, widely available to patients, doctors and diagnosticians, identifying people at higher risk of a severe course of the disease. Such a test may help to better identify people who, in the event of an infection, may be at risk of an acute disease, even before an infection occurs. Then such people could receive special care in advance, greater protection, both prophylactic (additional doses of protective vaccinations) and medical (new therapies directed against SARS-CoV-2) - suggests prof. dr hab. Marcin Moniuszko, Vice-Rector for Science and Development, Medical University of Bialystok, project manager.
As emphasized by the president of the Medical Research Agency, Dr. hab. n. med. Radosław Sierpiński - It is extremely important that, as the Medical Research Agency, we were able to create conditions for Polish scientists to develop research projects in the fight against COVID-19 . Thanks to such projects, we can stop the pandemic from developing, and most importantly, protect people exposed to the most severe course of infection. It should be emphasized that Polish innovative solutions go directly to the health care system, affecting not only its efficiency, but most importantly, protection of the health and life of Polish patients.
At this stage, it is crucial to define the support of the Medical University of Białystok from the Polish Patent Office in the field of intellectual property protection and preparation of fertile ground for the smooth transition of the implementation path and systemic financing from the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products, Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tariffs, the Ministry of Health and the National Health Fund.
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