Prevalence and mortality of COVID-19 are associated with the L55M functional polymorphism of Paraoxonase 1

INTRODUCTION: Accumulating evidence recommends that infectious diseases including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are often associated with oxidative stress and inflammation. Paraoxonase 1 (PON1, OMIM: 168,820), a member of the paraoxonase gene family, has antioxidant properties. Enzyme activity of paraoxonase depends on a variety of influencing factors such as polymorphisms of PON1, ethnicity, gender, age, and a number of environmental variables. The PON1 has two common functional polymorphisms, namely, Q192R (rs662) and L55M (rs854560). The R192 and M55 alleles are associated with increase and decrease in enzyme activity, respectively. OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted to investigate the possible association of rs662 and rs854560 polymorphisms with morbidity and mortality of COVID-19. METHODS: Data for the prevalence, mortality, and amount of accomplished diagnostic test (per 10(6) people) on 25 November 2020 from 48 countries were included in the present study. The Human Development Index (HDI) was used as a potential confounding variable. RESULTS: The frequency of M55 was positively correlated with the prevalence (partial r = 0.487, df = 36, p = 0.002) and mortality of COVID-19 (partial r = 0.551, df = 36, p < 0.001), after adjustments for HDI and amount of the accomplished diagnostic test as possible confounders. CONCLUSIONS: This means that countries with higher M55 frequency have higher prevalence and mortality of COVID-19.