Increased prevalence of AB group and FY*A red blood cell antigen in Caucasian SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma donors

ABSTRACT

IntroductionThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has put significant additional pressure on healthcare systems throughout the world. The identification of at-risk population beyond age, pre-existing medical conditions and socioeconomic status has been the subject of only a small part of the global COVID-19 research so far. To this day, more data is required regarding the association between HLA allele and red blood cell (RBC) antigens expression in regard to SARS-CoV-2 infection susceptibility and virus clearance capability, and COVID-19 susceptibility, severity, and duration. MethodsThe phenotypes for ABO and RhD, and the genotypes for 37 RBC antigens and HLA-A, B, C, DRB1, DQB1 and DPB1 were determined using high throughput platforms (Luminex and Next-generation Sequencing) in 90 Caucasian convalescent plasma donors. The results were compared to expected reference frequencies, local and international databases, and literature. ResultsThe AB group was significantly increased (1.5x, p=0.018) and a non-significant (2.2x, p=0.030) increase was observed for the FY*A allele frequency in the convalescent cohort (N=90) compared to reference frequencies. Some HLA alleles were found significantly overrepresented (HLA-B*4402, C*0501, DPB1*0401, DRB1*0401 and DRB1*0701) or underrepresented (A*0101, B5101 and DPB1*0402) in convalescent individuals compared to the local bone marrow registry population. ConclusionOur study of infection-susceptible but non-hospitalized Caucasian COVID-19 patients contributes to the global understanding of host genetic factors associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection susceptibility and severity of the associated disease.