COVID-19 and alcohol use disorder: putative differential gene expression patterns that might be associated with neurological complications. Issue 3 (27th May 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Muhammad, Jibran Sualeh; Siddiqui, Ruqaiyyah; Khan, Naveed Ahmed
• Is Part Of: Hospital practice. Volume 50:Issue 3(2022)
• Page Start: 189
• Page End: 195
• Publication Date: 2022-05-27
• Subjects: Alcoholism -- SARS-CoV-2 -- neurological manifestations -- COVID-19 -- in silico analysis; Medicine -- Periodicals; Hospital care -- Periodicals; Hospitals; Medicine; Médecine -- Périodiques; Soins hospitaliers -- Périodiques; Hôpitaux -- Périodiques; Hospital care; Medicine; Periodicals; 616.005
• DOI: 10.1080/21548331.2022.2088183
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2154-8331

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Background: Several lines of evidence suggest that SARS-CoV-2 invasion of the central nervous system leads to meningitis and encephalopathy syndromes. Additionally, chronic alcoholics were found to be at a higher risk of developing mental health problems and serious neurological manifestations, if exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: Herein, we studied RNA seq data from alcoholics' brain tissue and COVID-19 patient's brain tissue to identify the common differentially expressed genes. Results: Overlap analysis depicted the expression of seven genes ( GHRL, SLN, VGF, IL1RL1, NPTX2, PDYN, and RPRML ) that were significantly upregulated in both groups. Along with these, protein–protein interaction analysis revealed 10 other key molecules with strong interactions with the aforementioned genes. Conclusions: Taken together with the functional effect of these genes, we suggest a strong molecular link between COVID-19-induced severities and neurological impairment in patients suffering from alcohol abuse disorder. These findings emphasize the importance of identifying chronic alcoholism as a risk factor for developing cognitive and memory impairment in COVID-19 patients. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: uf0001