Tuan Duc Nguyen

Background/Objectives: Host genetic variation contributes to the heterogeneous clinical outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), yet evidence from Southeast Asian populations remains limited. Methods: We investigated host genetic factors associated with COVID-19 severity in Vietnamese patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant using whole-exome sequencing. A total of 48 unvaccinated patients were enrolled. During sample-level quality control, one sample was excluded because the genetically inferred sex was discordant with the information recorded in the clinical medical record, leaving 47 samples (23 severe/critical and 24 mild/asymptomatic) for downstream genetic analyses. Gene-based association analysis was performed using MAGMA, followed by functional enrichment and interaction network analyses with Metascape and GeneMANIA. Results: Population structure analysis showed that the study participants clustered closely with the East Asian (EAS) reference population. No individual variant reached the prespecified multiple-testing-adjusted threshold, and no gene-level association survived Benjamini–Hochberg correction. Using a nominal MAGMA gene-based p < 0.01 threshold solely for exploratory prioritization, 44 genes were selected for downstream functional analyses. Functional enrichment highlighted RNA processing and mRNA maturation, together with mitochondrial, metabolic, immune-regulatory, and cellular homeostasis pathways. Network topology analysis further identified several highly connected genes, including CPSF4, MRPS34, ATP5MF, BUD31, SNRPD3, and HDAC1. Conclusions: These hypothesis-generating findings are consistent with a potentially polygenic contribution to severe COVID-19 and provide an exploratory systems-level framework for understanding host genetic susceptibility in the Vietnamese population, while identifying biologically plausible candidate genes and pathways for future validation.

Aims: This study aimed to assess the nutritional status of COVID‐19 patients within the first 24 h of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission and to determine its association with the risk of mechanical ventilation and mortality. Methods: This retrospective study analyzed electronic medical records from 342 COVID‐19 patients admitted to Hanoi Medical University Hospital, Vietnam, between September 2021 and April 2022. The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria were applied to assess the risk of malnutrition. Results: According to the GLIM criteria, 77.8% of patients had moderate or severe malnutrition upon ICU admission. Compared with patients without malnutrition, those who were malnourished were significantly older ( p < 0.001) and had lower BMI, hemoglobin, and red blood cell counts ( p < 0.05). Univariate logistic regression analysis identified several factors associated with respiratory therapy and mortality among ICU COVID‐19 patients, including age, vaccination status, nutritional status, and BMI. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, malnutrition remained a significant predictor of clinical outcomes. The risk of requiring mechanical ventilation and death were 3.55‐fold and 2.03‐fold higher, respectively, in malnourished patients. Conclusion: The study revealed a high prevalence of malnutrition among ICU patients with COVID‐19. Furthermore, malnutrition was independently associated with an increased risk of mechanical ventilation and mortality. These findings underscored the importance of early nutritional screening and intervention as integral components of routine management for critically ill COVID‐19 patients.