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X-linked recessive TLR7 deficiency in ~1% of men under 60 years old with life-threatening COVID-19

  • COVID Human Genetic Effort
  • , Amsterdam UMC COVID-19 Biobank
  • JEM The Rockefeller University Press
  • University Sordonne-Paris-Cite; Paris-Descartes Medical School, Paris, France
  • Necker Hospital for Sick Children
  • Helix, San Mateo, CA, USA
  • the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06519, and Departments of Internal Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520.
  • Laboratory of Clinical Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
  • Vall d'Hebron University Hospital (HUVH)
  • Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic and Research Center for Primary Immunodeficiencies
  • Avicenne Hospital
  • Specialized Immunology Laboratory of Dr. Shahrooei, Ahvaz, Iran
  • Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences
  • Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway; Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnaeus University, Sweden
  • Bilkent University
  • University of Rome Tor Vergata
  • Bambino Gesù Children Hospital
  • Vita-Salute San Raffaele University
  • IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele
  • Molecular Hematology Unit
  • University of Antioquia UDEA
  • Universidad de la Sabana
  • Laboratory of Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021, USA.
  • NSERM Unit 1000 ″Neuroimaging and Psychiatry″, University Paris Sud, University Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
  • Helix
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06519, USA; Department of Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
  • Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Microbiology, Bethesda, United States
  • Specialized Immunology Laboratory of Dr. Shahrooei
  • University of Health Sciences
  • Tor Vergata University of Rome, Rome, Italy
  • University of Antioquia
  • University Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Paris, France.
  • Infanta Leonor University Hospital
  • Bellvitge Biomedical Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), 199 08908 Barcelona, Spain
  • The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST)
  • Complutense University
  • University Hospital of Gran Canaria Dr. Negrín
  • Institute of Technology and Renewable Energies (ITER)
  • Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
  • University Hospital La Paz
  • Necmettin Erbakan University
  • Konya City Hospital
  • Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Central Hospital-Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit
  • Unit of Clinical Therapy Research, Inflammatory Diseases (ClinTRID), Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Rheumatology Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Department of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology, Laboratory of Translational Immunology, Department of Immunology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
  • Physiology & Genetics Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
  • San Gerardo Hospital-University of Milano-Bicocca
  • MetabERN-University of Milano-Bicocca-Fondazione MBBM- Ospedale San Gerardo
  • CHRU de Nancy, F-CRIN INI-CRCT (Cardiovascular and Renal Clinical Trialists), INSERM U1116, Centre d'Investigation Clinique et Plurithématique 1433, INSERM, Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France.
  • Invitae
  • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

Autosomal inborn errors of type I IFN immunity and autoantibodies against these cytokines underlie at least 10% of critical COVID-19 pneumonia cases. We report very rare, biochemically deleterious X-linked TLR7 variants in 16 unrelated male individuals aged 7 to 71 years (mean, 36.7 years) from a cohort of 1202 male patients aged 0.5 to 99 years (mean, 52.9 years) with unexplained critical COVID-19 pneumonia. None of the 331 asymptomatically or mildly infected male individuals aged 1.3 to 102 years (mean, 38.7 years) tested carry such TLR7 variants (P = 3.5 × 10 −5). The phenotypes of five hemizygous relatives of index cases infected with SARS-CoV-2 include asymptomatic or mild infection (n = 2) or moderate (n = 1), severe (n = 1), or critical (n = 1) pneumonia. Two patients from a cohort of 262 male patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia (mean, 51.0 years) are hemizygous for a deleterious TLR7 variant. The cumulative allele frequency for deleterious TLR7 variants in the male general population is <6.5 × 10 −4. We show that blood B cell lines and myeloid cell subsets from the patients do not respond to TLR7 stimulation, a phenotype rescued by wild-type TLR7. The patients’ blood plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) produce low levels of type I IFNs in response to SARS-CoV-2. Overall, X-linked recessive TLR7 deficiency is a highly penetrant genetic etiology of critical COVID-19 pneumonia, in about 1.8% of male patients below the age of 60 years. Human TLR7 and pDCs are essential for protective type I IFN immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in the respiratory tract.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbereabl4348
JournalScience immunology
Volume6
Issue number62
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Aug 2021

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

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