The Neanderthal-Derived 3p21 Haplotype at LZTFL1 in Modern-Day Moroccans Is Associated With COVID-19 Severity and Further Suggests the Presence of Neanderthals in North Africa.

Publication date: Aug 05, 2026

There is considerable variability in the clinical presentation of COVID-19 among patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified the 12q24. 13 and 3p21. 31 regions, derived from Neanderthal DNA, as the human genetic loci most strongly associated with COVID-19 severity. We examined in this study the 3p locus in the Moroccan population by analysing allele and haplotype frequencies at the LZTFL1 gene and their associations with COVID-19 outcomes. Three SNPs at LZTFL1, tagging the Neanderthal-derived COVID-19 risk haplotype, were sequenced by Sanger’s method in 102 ambulatory participants and 105 hospitalized patients and have been compared to 118 controls negative for SARS-CoV-2 infection using logistic regression analysis. Results showed that the prevalence of the lead variant rs11385942 in this locus was 8. 9%, whereas the variants rs35044562 and rs13078854, which tag the Neanderthal haplotype, were present in only 6. 3%. Our study showed that only the rs35044562-T and rs13078854-A alleles were associated with a 2. 5-fold increased risk of severe COVID-19 (p = 0. 028). These two alleles, in LD with the rs11385942-AA one, form the haplotype inherited from the Neanderthal, the only haplotype associated with COVID-19 severity in the Moroccan population (p = 0. 030), whereas sub-Saharan African and the rare local haplotype also containing the rs11385942 variant do not influence the COVID-19 outcomes 19 (p > 0. 05). Furthermore, our study showed that the Neanderthal haplotype at 3p21 locus exists in the inhabitants of Morocco at a frequency close to that of Europeans and suggests a close connection between North Africa and Eurasia.

Semantics

Original Article