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2003/10/8 [Health/Disease/General] UID:10525 Activity:nil |
10/7 Genetic susceptibility for SARS found: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994226 \_ The only problem is the many Canadians who fell ill, and the doctor (Italian?) in Vietnam. |
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www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994226 A gene variant that may make people particularly susceptible to the deadly SARS virus, has been identified by scientists in Taiwan. The gene variant is prevalent in people of south Chinese origin, so the discovery may help explain why the disease rampaged across southeast Asia emerging in Chinas southern Guangdong province in November 2002. The gene produces a protein called HLA-B4601, which is linked to the immune response and has been linked to a raised risk of suffering more life-threatening reactions to SARS. We have discovered that most of the people infected with SARS are from southern China and southeast Asia and that the gene is related to their susceptibility to SARS infection, said Marie Lin, who led the study at Taipeis Mackay Memorial Hospital. The scientists stress that their results needed to be confirmed by other studies. James Hughes, at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, says possible genetic susceptibility is under investigation. It is conceivable that people of a certain genetic disposition have a susceptibility to or risk of complications, he told Reuters. Foreign invaders The team analysed human leukocyte antigen HLA proteins, which are present on the surface of all nucleated cells and are important for the body to distinguish between its own cells and foreign invaders. Previous studies have linked variations in this HLA system to susceptibility or resistance to malaria, tuberculosis, yellow fever, typhoid and HIV. Lin and colleagues hoped to discover a gene to use in a future screening programme for health care workers at greater risk of contracting SARS. The team examined the HLA genes in 33 probable SARS cases, 28 fever patients who later proved to have SARS, and 101 health care workers exposed but not infected by the fatal bug at Taiwans Mackay Memorial Hospital and Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital. They compared the results with controls including 190 healthy, unrelated Taiwanese people and found that a gene variant coding for HLA-B4601 was linked to an increased severity of SARS. Crucially, no cases of SARS were seen in people from the nine indigenous tribes of Taiwan who rarely have the gene variant. All the probable SARS cases were in Taiwanese people of southern Chinese origin. The islands main inhabitants have migrated from Chinas Guangdong and Fujian provinces over the last few centuries. Interestingly, HLA-B4601/B46 is also seldom seen in European populations and very few cases of SARS infection of individuals of European origin were reported, the team write. Vaccine hope In a separate development, Canadian researchers taken a step towards developing a vaccine to combat the SARS coronavirus. |