Scientists identify group of genes shared between COVID-19 and diabetic kidney disease biorxivpreprint uasoficialmx UofIllinois SARSCoV2 COVID19 Diabetes DiabeticKidneyDisease
By Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D.Oct 17 2022Reviewed by Aimee Molineux Scientists have identified five hub genes that might be associated with severe coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes in patients with diabetic kidney disease. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.
Diabetic kidney disease, also known as diabetic nephropathy, is a chronic kidney complication caused by hyperglycemia. About 30-40% of diabetic patients live with this health condition, and about 50% eventually develop end-stage kidney disease that requires dialysis or kidney transplantation. Study design The scientists conducted bioinformatics analysis of transcriptomic data obtained from patients with diabetic kidney disease to identify predictive hub genes associated with COVID-19-related diabetic kidney complications.
Important observations Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today A total of 995 differentially expressed genes were characterized in the diabetic kidney disease dataset. Of these genes, 42 were connected to the COVID-19-related pathways and showed an upregulated expression profile.
Overall, these observations indicate that the overactivation of the innate immune system and inflammatory pathways due to aberrant gene expressions may act in a negative synergistic manner to cause the worst COVID-19 outcomes in patients with diabetic kidney disease. Tissue-specific expression profile analysis of hub genes revealed that ISG15, STAT1, and MX1 have a consistently upregulated expression profile in the immune cells of COVID-19 patients. In addition, MX1 and OAS1 exhibited a lower expression profile in healthy kidney tissues.