Researchers have found a genetic variant which explains why Chinese
populations may be more vulnerable to swine flu.
Researchers at Oxford University
and Beijing Capital Medical University have found a genetic variant which
explains why Chinese populations may be more vulnerable to the H1N1 form of
flu, commonly known as swine flu.
The findings, published last week
in Nature Communications, could help identify those at high risk of
severe infection and help prioritize those in highest need of treatment.
Led by Dr. Tao Dong at the MRC
Human Immunology Unit, Oxford University, the study showed that having this
variant in your genetic make-up could increase your chances of severe infection
by six times.
The variation rs12252-C is
occasionally found in Caucasian populations (in around 1 in 3,000 people) and
was previously shown to be associated with more severe influenza. The
researchers focused on this variation as it is 100 times more common in Han
Chinese, the predominant ethnic group in China.
“Understanding why some people
may be worse affected than others is crucial in improving our ability to manage
flu epidemics and to prevent people dying from the virus. Previous studies had
shown genetic variant was associated with severe influenza infection in
Europeans, but this variant is extremely rare in Europeans. We became
interested in this because we noticed it is 100 times more common in China,”
said Tao.
Results of the study showed that
the rs12252-C variation was present in 69 percent of Chinese patients with
severe pandemic (swine) influenza in 2009 compared with 25 percent who only had
a mild version of the infection.
“The apparent effect of this gene
variant on the severity of influenza is of great interest. It remains to be
seen how this gene affects the whole picture of influenza in China and South
East Asia but it might help explain why new influenza viruses often first
appear in this region of the world,” said Professor Andrew McMichael at the MRC
Human Immunology Unit, Oxford University, a co-author on the study.
The article can be found
at: Zhang Y-H et al. (2013)
Interferon-induced transmembrane protein-3 genetic variant rs12252-C is
associated with severe influenza in Chinese individuals.
Source: MRC;
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