The Impact of IFNλ4 on the Adaptive Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Genetic polymorphisms at the loci are known to influence the clinical outcome of several different infectious diseases. Best described is the association between the genotype and hepatitis C virus clearance. However, an influence of the genotype on the adaptive immune system was suggested by several studies but never investigated in humans. In this cross-sectional study, we have genotyped 201 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-positive participants for 3 polymorphisms (rs368234815, rs12979860, and rs117648444) and stratified them according to the IFNλ4 activity. Based on this stratification, we investigated the association between the genotype and the antibody as well as the CD8 T cell response in the acute phase of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. We observed no differences in the genotype distribution compared with a Danish reference cohort or the 1,000 Genome Project, and we were not able to link the genotype to changes in either the antibody or CD8 T cell responses of these patients.