RE: Broader clinical utility14 Oct 2021 21:48
Just came across this article which mentions: Interferons; AD and Covid. Another possible connection to the term "Broader"
"Risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and susceptibility to severe COVID-19 share a common genetic mechanism involved in the immune response to viruses, investigators report. The findings could lead to new treatment targets to slow progression and severity of both diseases.
Investigators found that a single genetic variant in the oligoadenylate synthetase 1 (OAS1) gene increases the risk for AD and that related variants in the same gene increase the likelihood of severe COVID-19 outcomes.
Dr Dervis Salih
"These findings may allow us to identify new drug targets to slow progression of both diseases and reduce their severity," Dervis Salih, PhD, senior research associate, UK Dementia Research Institute, University College London, the United Kingdom, told Medscape Medical News.
"Our work also suggests new approaches to treat both diseases with the same drugs," Salih added.
The study was published online October 7 in Brain.
Shared Genetic Network
The OAS1 gene is expressed in microglia, a type of immune cell that makes up around 10% of all cells in the brain.
In earlier work, investigators found evidence suggesting a link between the OAS1 gene and AD, but the function of the gene in microglia was unknown.
To further investigate the gene's link to AD, they sequenced genetic data from 2547 people ? half with AD, and half without.
The genotyping analysis confirmed that the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1131454 within OAS1 is significantly associated with AD.
Given that the same OAS1 locus has recently been linked with severe COVID-19 outcomes, the researchers investigated four variants on the OAS1 gene.
Results indicate that SNPs within OAS1 associated with AD also show linkage to SNP variants associated with critical illness in COVID-19.
The rs1131454 (risk allele A) and rs4766676 (risk allele T) are associated with AD, and rs10735079 (risk allele A) and rs6489867 (risk allele T) are associated with critical illness with COVID-19, the investigators report. All of these risk alleles dampen expression of OAS1.
"This study also provides strong new evidence that interferon signaling by the innate immune system plays a substantial role in the progression of Alzheimer's," said Salih.
"Identifying this shared genetic network in innate immune cells will allow us with future work to identify new biomarkers to track disease progression and also predict disease risk better for both disorders," he added.
"Fascinating" Link
In a statement from the UK nonprofit organization, Science Media Center, Kenneth Baillie, MBChB, with the University of Edinburgh, said this study builds on a discovery he and his colleagues made last year that OAS1 variants are associated with severe COVID-19.
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