CD14 gene polymorphism in COVID-19 convalescents: analysis of (C-159)T

Cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) is a pattern recognition receptor for lipopolysaccharide of gram-negative flora and has a close relationship with toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). The interaction between CD14 and TLR 4 leads to the synthesis of cytokines such as interleukin-1, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-á. The TLR4 receptor is associated with the penetration of the new coronavirus infection virus into the cell, additionally stimulating the expression of the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 molecule and suppressing apoptosis in infected cells. Work on the study of the (159C)T polymorphism of the CD14 gene in COVID-19 is represented by only a few publications describing observations only in the Western European region. The purpose of our study was to study the association between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the CD14 gene – (159C)T (rs2569190) and susceptibility to a new coronavirus infection in the population of the Republic of Crimea. The study included 158 patients (87 women (55%) and 71 (45%) men, average age 45.6±6.14 years) who had COVID-19. Verification of previous COVID-19 was based on anamnestic data and data from studies performed at the time of illness (PCR). The control group consisted of 85 respondents who had not suffered a new coronavirus infection. To analyze the (C-159)T polymorphism of the CD14 gene, allele-specific PCR with electrophoretic detection in a 3% agarose gel (NPF "Litekh", Russia) was used. To compare the frequencies of allele combinations, the ÷² test and odds ratio (95% CI) were used. The distribution of CD14 mutations followed Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p > 0.05). The results of the study showed that the distribution of CD14 gene genotypes did not differ significantly in all study groups. The dominant genotype was the heterozygous genotype CT of the (C-159)T polymorphism of the CD14 gene. The analysis showed that the presence of CT and TT SNPs was not associated with the risk of developing a new coronavirus infection (p > 0.05). Conclusions. The CD14 SNP (C-159)T is not associated with a higher risk of COVID-19 infection. The distribution of occurrence of SNP variants in the group of recovered individuals did not differ significantly from that in the control group (p > 0.05).