Dubai: A new study led by scientists from the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) and Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital points to novel genetic factors that may contribute to multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a rare but life-threatening complication of COVID-19 in children.
MIS-C is a rare but serious complication that may occur in children with COVID-19. The condition is characterised by intense inflammation (cytokine storm) and can affect multiple organs including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs. MIS-C is a life-threatening disease if not diagnosed and treated promptly. It is not clear why certain children develop this complication, and the recent study provides new evidence on the potential genetic factors related to MIS-C.
The study analysed clinical, laboratory markers, and genomic findings of 70 predominantly Middle Eastern children who had COVID-19, of whom 45 met the case definition of MIS-C, while 25 did not and were included as controls'. Patients were treated at Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital in the UAE as well as in the Jordan University Hospital between September 2020 and August 2021.
Funded by the Al Jalila Foundation and published in JAMA Network Open, the study found that children with MIS-C were significantly more likely to have rare and likely damaging immune-related genetic changes when compared to control children with COVID-19 but without MIS-C. Furthermore, there was an association between genetic findings and disease onset and resistance to treatment.
Dr. Walid Abuhammour, Head of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases department at Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital, and study investigator said, "This is an important study not only because the findings show comprehensive genetic profiling of children with MIS-C which is essential to characterise the genetic contribution to the disease, but also because patients of an Arab background have long been underrepresented in genetic studies."
Multi-institutional collaboration
The study was the result of multi-institutional collaboration among Dubai-based scientists from MBRU, Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital, the Medical Education and Research Department and the Pathology Department at Dubai Health Authority, as well as colleagues from the University of Jordan and The Specialty Hospital's department of Pediatrics in Jordan.
For his part, Professor Suleiman Al Hammadi, Dean of the College of Medicine at MBRU, stated, "With all entities of the Dubai Academic Health Corporation involved, this study demonstrates the vision of the Corporation to foster collaboration and drive excellence in clinical care and discovery."
Dr. Hamda Hassan Khansaheb, Head of Medical Research at Medical Education and Research Department, Dubai Health Authority, explained that this study provided Dubai Academic Health Corporation researchers with an opportunity to be involved in collaborative research which involved multiple researchers from different institutions and organisations.
Moreover, Ahmad Abou Tayoun, Director of Al Jalila Children's Genomics Centre and Associate Professor of Genetics at MBRU, commented, "The results of this research suggest that rare genetic factors play a role in MIS-C disease and highlight immune-related pathways which might become targets for intervention. Hopefully, this will now prompt additional studies to functionally characterise some of the identified genes, and to expand genomic sequencing to more diverse populations to fully characterise the genetic landscape of this new disease entity."
