García-Silva R, Hernández-Dono S, Mena L, Vilatobá M, Granados J

Language: Spanish
References: 8
Page: 222-224
PDF size: 168.30 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Country and state border lines are imaginary and do not restrain the spread of pathogens. In the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, that causes the disease COVID-19, a contrast in the statistics between countries and within the states of Mexico is evident. It is probable that this contrast is minimally attributable to the success of the restriction policies that every region has stablished, and instead it is probably determined by ethnicity and genetics. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a region within the short arm of the sixth chromosome, that includes the genes of the class I, class II and class III human leukocyte antigens (HLA), the tumor necrosis factor, and the complement, that are crucial in the development of the immune response against pathogens, and in the recognition between self and non-self. Moreover, the distribution of the HLA alleles is determined by the ethnical ancestry and natural selection through infectious diseases. Mexican mestizos can be stratified into multiple population substructures that can be as differentiated from one another as Europeans are from Asians. Therefore, it is primordial to analyze the HLA haplotypes in subjects capable of resolving the infection and those that develop severe manifestations, thus generating applicable information to the formulation of public health policies tailored for the Mexican population, in order to confront a second wave and for the application of vaccines.

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