Coronavirus – World – A Covid-19 risk variant inherited from Neanderthals protects against HIV. The gene variant, which is surprisingly common in people alive today, reduces the risk of HIV infection by 27 percent.
In addition to risk factors such as advanced age or diabetes, genetic heritage can also increase or reduce the individual risk of severe corona disease. In 2020, Hugo Zeberg and Svante Pääbo from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig showed that the most important genetic risk factor for a severe course of Covid-19 is part of the human Neanderthal heritage.
Last year, the research duo examined the same gene variant in the genome of prehistoric humans and found that it has been occurring significantly more frequently since the end of the last ice age. It stands to reason, therefore, that in the past it has largely been beneficial to its bearers.
The Neanderthal variant is located in a region on chromosome three that also contains several genes associated with receptors in the immune system. The HIV virus uses one of these receptors – CCR5 – to infect white blood cells.
According to a Tuesday announcement, Zeberg found that people with an inherited Covid 19 risk variant have fewer CCR5 receptors. The analysis of patient data from three large biobanks showed that carriers of the Covid-19 risk variant have a 27 percent lower risk of HIV infection.
Bad against Covid-19, good against HIV
“Having this gene variant can be both good and bad for the carrier: bad if they contract COVID-19, good if they are at risk of HIV infection and have some protection against this virus.” , explained the Max Planck expert.
However, since HIV only emerged in the 20th century, the protective effect against this infectious disease cannot explain why the Covid-19 risk variant was already so widespread in humans 10,000 years ago. The researchers suspect that protection against another disease may have contributed to the widespread spread of this particular gene variant after the last ice age.