Estimating the heritability of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 severity

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 has infected over 340 million people, prompting therapeutic research. While genetic studies can highlight potential drug targets, understanding the heritability of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 severity can contextualize their results. To date, loci from meta-analyses explain 1.2% and 5.8% of variation in susceptibility and severity respectively. Here we estimate the importance of shared environment and additive genetic variation to SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 severity using pedigree data, PCR results, and hospitalization information. The relative importance of genetics and shared environment for susceptibility shifted during the study, with heritability ranging from 33% (95% CI: 20%-46%) to 70% (95% CI: 63%-74%). Heritability was greater for days hospitalized with COVID-19 (41%, 95% CI: 33%-57%) compared to shared environment (33%, 95% CI: 24%-38%). While our estimates suggest these genetic architectures are not fully understood, the shift in susceptibility estimates highlights the challenge of estimation during a pandemic, given environmental fluctuations and vaccine introduction.

Abstract

How our genes and environment determine our vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the severity of COVID19 remains uncertain. Here, the authors find that as the pandemic progressed the relative importance of genetic variation increased, highlighting the dynamic nature of heritability amidst changing public policies and vaccination rates.