Estimating the heritability of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 severity

Kathleen LaRow Brown, Vijendra Ramlall, Michael Zietz, Undina Gisladottir and Nicholas P. Tatonetti ()
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Kathleen LaRow Brown: Columbia University
Vijendra Ramlall: Columbia University
Michael Zietz: Columbia University
Undina Gisladottir: Columbia University
Nicholas P. Tatonetti: Columbia University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 340 million people, prompting therapeutic research. While genetic studies can highlight potential drug targets, understanding the heritability of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 severity can contextualize their results. To date, loci from meta-analyses explain 1.2% and 5.8% of variation in susceptibility and severity respectively. Here we estimate the importance of shared environment and additive genetic variation to SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 severity using pedigree data, PCR results, and hospitalization information. The relative importance of genetics and shared environment for susceptibility shifted during the study, with heritability ranging from 33% (95% CI: 20%-46%) to 70% (95% CI: 63%-74%). Heritability was greater for days hospitalized with COVID-19 (41%, 95% CI: 33%-57%) compared to shared environment (33%, 95% CI: 24%-38%). While our estimates suggest these genetic architectures are not fully understood, the shift in susceptibility estimates highlights the challenge of estimation during a pandemic, given environmental fluctuations and vaccine introduction.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44250-7

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