Dr. Ronald G. Nahass recently contributed to a new issue of the Journal of Medical Virology examining gene expression in patients with COVID-19.
The study analyzed residual blood from 180 patients with COVID to conduct whole gene sequencing and bioassays for cytokines, DPP IV and ACE2 looking for patterns that could be identified that were associated with COVID.
“Specific investigation regarding DM was done as well. This has been a very hot area of investigation. We found a fair number of genes were ‘turned on’ in covid compared to non-covid cases. Not surprisingly some of them are ones associated with platelet function and some inflammatory changes. Some of the genes have been identified in other infections,” says Dr. Nahass.
“To me this was not surprising and in some ways nice to see since it suggests the potential of a common pathway to some manifestations of infections not related to the pathogen but to the host response to the pathogen.”
The study provides insight into altered gene expression patterns in individuals with COVID-19 with and without diabetes mellitus and highlights potential markers for severe disease and pathways for treatment targets.
Read an abstract of the article from the Journal of Medical Virology.