A new study published in Nature Genetics throws lights upon how genetics plays a role in long COVID. This study used a research method called Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS), which scans the DNA of many people to find small changes (called SNPs) that appear more often in those with a specific disease.
- The study used data from 33 research groups in 19 countries.
- It included 6,450 people with long COVID and over 1 million people without it.
- A follow-up study tested the findings in another 9,500 long COVID cases and 800,000 controls.
Key Finding: The FOXP4 Gene
The study found that people who had a particular genetic variation near the FOXP4 gene were 63% more likely to develop long COVID. This variant is known as rs9367106.
- FOXP4 is active in the lungs, especially in type 2 alveolar cells—cells that repair the lungs and respond to infections.
- People with this variant had higher levels of FOXP4 activity in their lung tissue.
- Even people who were not hospitalised for COVID showed increased risk if they had this genetic variant.
- The variant is more common in East Asians (36%) than in Europeans (1.6%), showing how genetic risk varies by ancestry.
Further testing showed that people with slightly higher FOXP4 levels after infection were more than twice as likely to suffer from long COVID.
A final method called co-localisation analysis showed a 91% chance that this genetic change influences both FOXP4 activity and long COVID risk.
What is Long COVID?
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines long COVID as symptoms that start within three months of a COVID infection and last at least two months without any other known cause. These symptoms often include:
- Constant tiredness or fatigue
- Breathing difficulties
- Brain fog or memory issues
Significance for India:
India has seen multiple waves of COVID-19 and still lacks widespread awareness or tracking of long COVID cases. Studies in India show long COVID symptoms in:
- 45% to 80% of patients depending on the study
- 16.5% of hospitalised patients still reported symptoms like fatigue and breathlessness even a year after recovery
However, the global study had very limited South Asian data. This is a big gap, because:
- India has unique health challenges like high air pollution, underdiagnosed lung disease, and unequal healthcare access.
- The effect of the FOXP4 gene variant in Indian populations is still unknown.
India’s Genomic Progress
India’s GenomeIndia Project has sequenced genetic data from 10,000 individuals across various regions. Although not focused on disease, this is a first step toward understanding how genes affect health in Indians.
This database can support future Indian studies on conditions like long COVID, helping doctors and researchers create more tailored treatment and care models.
Conclusion
This global study has taken an important step in linking genetics to long COVID through the FOXP4 gene. But for countries like India, more local research is needed to understand how these findings apply here.
