Investigation of susceptibility genes for chickenpox disease across multiple continents

Chickenpox (varicella) is caused by infection with the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), a neurotropic alpha herpes virus with a double-stranded DNA genome. Chickenpox can cause life-threatening complications, including subsequent bacterial infections, central nervous system symptoms, and even death without any risk factors. Few studies have been reported to investigate genetic susceptibility implicated in chickenpox. Herein, our study identified global genetic variants that potentially contributed to chickenpox susceptibility by utilizing the established bioinformatic-based approach. We integrated several databases, such as genome-wide association studies (GWAS) catalog, GTEx portal, HaploReg version 4.1, and Ensembl databases analyses to investigate susceptibility genes associated with chickenpox. Notably, increased expression of HLA-S, HCG4P5, and ABHD16A genes underlie enhanced chickenpox susceptibility in the European, American, and African populations. As compared to the Asian population, Europeans, Americans, and Africans have higher allele frequencies of the extant variants rs9266089, rs10947050, and rs79501286 from the susceptibility genes. Our study suggested that these susceptibility genes and associated genetic variants might play a critical role in chickenpox progression based on host genetics with clinical implications.