On December 2, 2024, a group of Brazilian scientists announced the identification of a gene that may provide protection against COVID-19. This finding emerged from an analysis of six couples where the women consistently exhibited resistance to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to academic sources.
The study revealed that these six resistant women had a "higher expression" of the IFIT3 gene compared to their infected husbands. This gene is part of the body's antiviral response and has previously been linked to protection against other viral diseases, including dengue and hepatitis B.
For the first time, researchers were able to demonstrate this protective effect. Mateus Vidigal, the lead author of the study, stated, "It is highly unlikely that these women were not exposed to the coronavirus while in close contact with their infected husbands." The IFIT3 gene encodes a protein that binds to the virus's RNA, preventing replication and subsequent cell invasion.
Vidigal clarified, "These women were indeed infected; however, the virus replicated minimally within their cells, which is why they did not develop the illness." The study, conducted by scientists from the University of São Paulo (USP) and published in 'Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology', began in 2020 during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in approximately 700,000 deaths in Brazil.
In the initial phase, researchers analyzed the genetic material of 86 couples, finding only six instances of discordance where one spouse was infected multiple times while the wife remained asymptomatic. Blood samples from these couples were retested in 2022 after a second infection and following the administration of two vaccine doses, yielding the same results.
Vidigal noted, "We observed that the resistant women's cells showed a higher expression of the IFIT3 gene compared to their husbands and another group of five women who contracted COVID-19." This discovery positions the IFIT3 gene as a potential target for new antiviral therapies that could enhance the innate immune response against SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens, according to Fapesp.
Edecio Cunha, a professor at USP's Faculty of Medicine, emphasized the need to understand the mechanisms that lead to the increased expression of IFIT3 following the identification of this gene associated with coronavirus resistance.