No Association between SARS-CoV-2 Infection and the Polymorphism of the Toll-like Receptor 7 (<i>TLR7</i>) Gene in Female Population

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a single-stranded RNA virus. Toll-like receptor 7 (<i>TLR7</i>) recognizes single-stranded RNA viruses. The <i>TLR7</i> gene plays a critical role in the human innat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mohammed Zayed, Yong-Chan Kim, Chang-Seop Lee, Byung-Hoon Jeong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-11-01
Series:Diagnostics
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/13/23/3510
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Summary:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a single-stranded RNA virus. Toll-like receptor 7 (<i>TLR7</i>) recognizes single-stranded RNA viruses. The <i>TLR7</i> gene plays a critical role in the human innate and adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infections. Genetic factors probably affect SARS-CoV-2 infection susceptibility. In the current study, our aim was to search for genetic variations associated with COVID-19 patients in the <i>TLR7</i> gene of a Korean population. We designed five gene-specific primers to cover the coding region of the human <i>TLR7</i> gene. Using amplicon sequencing, we screened the genetic polymorphisms in the coding region of the <i>TLR7</i> gene in COVID-19 patients and healthy controls. The genotype frequencies, allele frequencies, and Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) were examined. We identified a low-frequency synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs864058) in the coding region of the <i>TLR7</i> gene. There were no significant differences in the genotype or allele frequencies of the <i>TLR7</i> rs864058 polymorphism between COVID-19 female patients and healthy controls (<i>p</i> = 1.0). In conclusion, <i>TLR7</i> (rs864058) polymorphism is low frequency in Korean populations and is not associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
ISSN:2075-4418