Evidence for Biological Age Acceleration and Telomere Shortening in COVID-19 Survivors

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Oronzo Catalano¹  Maurizio Bussotti²  Laura Adelaide Dalla Vecchia²  Marialisa Nesta³  Simona Nanni³  Alfredo Pontecorvi³  Massimo Massetti³  Antonella Farsetti⁴  Michela Gottardi Zamperla⁵  Veronica Barbi⁵  Carlo Gaetano⁵  Sandra Atlante⁵  Alessia Mongelli⁵  Luana Forleo⁵  Fabio Martelli⁶  Maria Teresa La Rovere⁷  Tiziana Bachetti⁷ 

[1] Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Maugeri 10, 27100 Pavia, Italy;Cardiorespiratory Rehabilitation Department, IRCCS Maugeri Clinical Scientific Institutes, 20097 Milan, Italy;Foundation “Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS”, Department of Translational Medicine & Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, and Department of Cardiovascular Science, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, 00168 Rome, Italy;Institute for Systems Analysis and Computer Science “A. Ruberti” (IASI), National Research Council (CNR), 00185 Rome, Italy;Laboratory of Epigenetics, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Maugeri 10, 27100 Pavia, Italy;Laboratory of Molecular Cardiology, Policlinico San Donato IRCCS, San Donato Milanese, 20097 Milan, Italy;Scientific Direction, Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri IRCCS, Via Maugeri 4, 27100 Pavia, Italy;

关键词: biological age;    COVID-19;    post-COVID-19;    telomeres;    epigenetics;    DNA methylation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms22116151

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The SARS-CoV-2 infection determines the COVID-19 syndrome characterized, in the worst cases, by severe respiratory distress, pulmonary and cardiac fibrosis, inflammatory cytokine release, and immunosuppression. This condition has led to the death of about 2.15% of the total infected world population so far. Among survivors, the presence of the so-called persistent post-COVID-19 syndrome (PPCS) is a common finding. In COVID-19 survivors, PPCS presents one or more symptoms: fatigue, dyspnea, memory loss, sleep disorders, and difficulty concentrating. In this study, a cohort of 117 COVID-19 survivors (post-COVID-19) and 144 non-infected volunteers (COVID-19-free) was analyzed using pyrosequencing of defined CpG islands previously identified as suitable for biological age determination. The results show a consistent biological age increase in the post-COVID-19 population, determining a DeltaAge acceleration of 10.45 ± 7.29 years (+5.25 years above the range of normality) compared with 3.68 ± 8.17 years for the COVID-19-free population (p < 0.0001). A significant telomere shortening parallels this finding in the post-COVID-19 cohort compared with COVID-19-free subjects (p < 0.0001). Additionally, ACE2 expression was decreased in post-COVID-19 patients, compared with the COVID-19-free population, while DPP-4 did not change. In light of these observations, we hypothesize that some epigenetic alterations are associated with the post-COVID-19 condition, particularly in younger patients (< 60 years).

【 授权许可】

Unknown