A Finnish-led international research team has discovered novel gene variants that increase the risk of a rare but severe lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The results also demonstrate notable genetic similarities with susceptibility to severe COVID-19 infection.
The study, led by the University of Helsinki, identified seven previously novel genetic risk factors for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Only one of these would have been identified if the study had utilized data from European biobanks only.
Global collaboration enabled the study involving nearly 1.4 million people of six different ancestries from around the world, including more than 11 000 idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients.
"Most of the risk genes we have now identified are completely new and their function in the lung is unknown, while others appear to be related to lung function, such as lung function measures or mucus secretion," says Juulia Partanen, PhD researcher at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, University of Helsinki, who was the first author of the study.
