The rapid rise and global consequences of the novel coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) have again brought the focus of the scientific community on the possible host factors involved in patient response and outcome to exposure to the virus. The disease severity remains highly unpredictable, and individuals with none of the aforementioned risk factors may still develop severe COVID-19. It was shown that genotype-related factors like an ABO Blood Group affect COVID-19 severity, and the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 was higher for patients with blood type A and lower for patients with blood type O. Currently it is not clear which specific genes are associated with COVID-19 severity. The comparative analysis of COVID-19 and other viral infections allows us to predict that the variants within the interferon pathway genes may serve as markers of the magnitude of immune response to specific pathogens. In particular, various members of Class III interferons (lambda) are reviewed in detail.

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Objective: To obtain a set of reference values for the intake of different types of dietary fibre in a healthy UK population. Design: This descriptive cross-sectional study used the UK Biobank data to estimate the dietary patterns of healthy individuals. Data on fibre content in different foods were used to calculate the reference values which were then calibrated using real-world data on total fibre intake. Setting: UK Biobank is a prospective cohort study of over 500,000 individuals from across the United Kingdom with the participants aged between 40 and 69 years. Participants: UK Biobank contains information on over 500,000 participants. This study was performed using the data on 19990 individuals (6941 men, 13049 women) who passed stringent quality control and filtering procedures and had reported above-zero intake of the analysed foods. Results: A set of reference values for the intake of 6 different types of soluble and insoluble fibres (cellulose, hemicelluloses, pectin and lignin), including the corresponding totals, was developed and calibrated using real-world data. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to establish specific reference values for the intake of different types of dietary fibre. It is well-known that effects exerted by different types of fibre both directly and through modulation of microbiota are numerous. Conceivably, a deficit or excess intake of specific types of dietary fibre may detrimentally affect human health. Filling this knowledge gap opens new avenues for research in discussion in studies of nutrition and microbiota, and offers valuable tools for practitioners worldwide.