en Health Improvement Strategies Health Improvement Strategies مقاله پژوهشی Original Research Article <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:16px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><b><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Background & Objective:</span></span><b> </b></b><span style="color:black">Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a different fatality rate and clinical effects and exhibits a wide range of clinical symptoms, from asymptomatic to critically ill infections that require intensive care units. IFNL4 has shown antiviral activity against RNA viruses. IFNL4 is classified as a type-III interferon the newest addition to the interferon lambda protein family. The receptor of INFL4 (IFNLR1) is primarily restricted to tissues of epithelial origin. Therefore, interferon lambda proteins may have evolved specifically to protect the epithelium. Genetic polymorphism is one of the factors impacting COVID-19 outcomes. Variants of the IFNL4 gene have been linked to the clinical response to some viral infections. Many studies have found a correlation between the T Allele of IFNL4 (rs12979860) SNP and COVID-19 outcomes. Our goal was to investigate the correlation between such a polymorphism and the severity of COVID-19 infection.</span><br> <b><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">&nbsp;Materials & Methods:</span></span></span></b> <span style="color:black"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">A total of 150 positive COVID-19 patients (75 severe, 75 mild/moderate) were enrolled in the present study. The polymorphism was genotyped using TaqMan real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction).</span></span><br> <b><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Results: </span></span></span>&nbsp;</b><span style="color:black"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">The present study found the TT genotype of the rs12979860 variants was significantly prevalent in severe patients compared to mild and moderate infection patients, suggesting that this genotype could be a risk factor for COVID-19.</span></span><br> <b><span style="background:#2d7f8f"><span style="color:white">Conclusion: </span></span>&nbsp;</b><span style="color:black">Between the two study groups, there is a statistically significant association between COVID-19 outcome and the T Allele of the IFNL4 (rs12979860) SNP.</span></span></span></p> IFNL4, rs12979860, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 81 87 http://journal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-7434-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Sara Fakhri Ahmed SaraAhmed@gmail.com 0009-0009-9143-232X Yes Department, Department of Nursing, Medical Technical Institute, Northern Technical University, Kirkuk, Iraq Muhammed A. H. Aldabagh MuhammedAldabagh@gmail.com 0000-0003-2312-536X No Department of Microbiology, Collage of Medicine, Al-Nahrain University, Baghdad, Iraq Aryan F. Khorshid abdalatif451992@gmail.com 0009-0004-5439-8090 No Cardiology Hospital, Sulaimaniyah D.O.H, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq Dahat Jamal Hawezy DahatHawezy@gmail.com 0000-0003-4162-9959 No Cardiology Hospital, Sulaimaniyah D.O.H, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq