Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) triggered the pandemic Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19), causing millions of deaths. The elderly and those already living with comorbidity are likely to die after SARS-CoV-2 infection. People suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have a higher risk of becoming infected, because they cannot easily follow health roles. Additionally, those suffering from dementia have a 40% higher risk of dying from COVID-19. Herein, we collected from Gene Expression Omnibus repository the brain samples of AD patients who died of COVID-19 (AD+COVID-19), AD without COVID-19 (AD), COVID-19 without AD (COVID-19) and control individuals. We inspected the transcriptomic and interactomic profiles by comparing the COVID-19 cohort against the control cohort and the AD cohort against the AD+COVID-19 cohort. SARS-CoV-2 in patients without AD mainly activated processes related to immune response and cell cycle. Conversely, 21 key nodes in the interactome are deregulated in AD. Interestingly, some of them are linked to beta-amyloid production and clearance. Thus, we inspected their role, along with their interactors, using the gene ontologies of the biological process that reveals their contribution in brain organization, immune response, oxidative stress and viral replication. We conclude that SARS-CoV-2 worsens the AD condition by increasing neurotoxicity, due to higher levels of beta-amyloid, inflammation and oxidative stress.
Highlights
The pandemic from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) blew up in 2019, with more than 260 million infections and more than 5 million deaths around the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) [1]
The analysis performed on the genes of control cohort against the COVID-19 cohort highlighted 1644 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), among which 1384 are upregulated and 260 are downregulated
The COVID-19 pandemic induced by the SARS-CoV-2 especially worsens the condition of those suffered from chronic degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
Summary
The pandemic from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) blew up in 2019, with more than 260 million infections and more than 5 million deaths around the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) [1]. SARS-CoV-2 is a virus of the betacoronavirus genus that triggers the Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) disease. COVID-19 consists of a respiratory disease that mainly causes fatigue, fever, dry cough and, in the worst cases, acute respiratory distress syndrome. 2% of people suffering from COVID-19 develop a severe disease that is associated with an uncontrolled inflammatory response and low oxygen levels in the blood that lead, in the worst cases, to respiratory failure, multi-organ impairment and, eventually, death [2]. People suffering from cerebrovascular, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity or diabetes have a bigger risk to develop a severe disease, due to their preclinical status [4]
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