Prevalence of the protective OAS1 rs10774671-G allele against severe COVID-19 in Moroccans: implications for a North African Neanderthal connection

We examined this locus in the Moroccan population for the occurrence of the critical variant rs10774671 and its respective haplotype blocks. The frequency of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the cluster ofOAS immunity genes in 157 unrelated individuals of Moroccan origin was determined using an in-house exome database.OAS1 exon 6 of 71 SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals with asymptomatic/mild disease and 74 with moderate/severe disease was sequenced by the Sanger method. The genotypic, allelic, and haplotype frequencies of three SNPs were compared between these two groups. Finally, males in our COVID-19 series were genotyped for the Berber-specific marker E-M81. The prevalence of theOAS1 rs10774671-G allele in present-day Moroccans was found to be 40.4%, which is similar to that found in Europeans. However, it was found equally in both the Neanderthal GGG haplotype and the African GAC haplotype, with a frequency of 20% each. These two haplotypes, and hence the rs10774671-G allele, were significantly associated with protection against severe COVID-19 (p = 0.034,p = 0.041, andp = 0.008, respectively). Surprisingly, in men with the Berber-specific uniparental markers, the African haplotype was absent, while the prevalence of the Neanderthal haplotype was similar to that in Europeans. The protective rs10774671-G allele ofOAS1 was found only in the Neanderthal haplotype in Berbers, the indigenous people of North Africa, suggesting that this region may have served as a steppi...
Source: Archives of Virology - Category: Virology Source Type: research