Hong Kong Med J 2010;16(Suppl 4):S37-42
Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism in the CD209 (DC-SIGN) promoter with SARS severity
KYK Chan, MS Xu, JCY Ching, YC Ip, US Khoo, VS Chan, P Tam, CL Lin, Sham P, GM Leung, JSM Peiris, L Yam, CM Chu, ST Lai, KM So, TY Wong, PH Chung, SP Yip
Department of Pathology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
 
 
1. In this genetic risk-association study involving about 1300 subjects, SARS patients carrying the DC-SIGN promoter -336G variant had lower risk of having higher lactate dehydrogenase levels on admission, an independent prognostic indicator for severity of SARS-CoV infection.
2. In vitro functional studies demonstrated that the DC-SIGN -336G promoter provided a less effective binding site and lower promoter activity, which may lead to reduced DC-SIGN protein expression and hence may contribute to a reduced immune-response with reduced lung injury during the progression of SARS infection.