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Blood DNA methylation and COVID-19 outcomes
Joseph Balnis1,2, Andy Madrid3, Kirk J Hogan4
1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY, USA.
Clinical Epigenetics
|May 26, 2021
Summary
DNA methylation patterns in blood differ between COVID-19 patients and healthy individuals, with specific regions linked to immune responses and disease severity. These epigenetic changes may offer targets for managing COVID-19 progression.
Area of Science:
- Epigenetics
- Virology
- Immunology
Background:
- No prior studies compared DNA methylation in COVID-19 patients to pre-pandemic samples on a shared platform.
- Genome-wide DNA methylation analysis was performed on blood samples from COVID-19 patients and healthy controls.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate genome-wide DNA methylation differences in blood of COVID-19 patients compared to pre-pandemic healthy controls.
- To correlate methylation patterns with COVID-19 severity and outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Infinium Human MethylationEPIC BeadChip for epigenotyping.
- Compared methylation data from 124 COVID-19 patients (positive and negative) with 39 pre-pandemic healthy controls.
- Integrated prospective outcome measures (COVID-19-GRAM risk score, mortality) with methylation data.
Main Results:
- Global DNA methylation levels were similar between COVID-19 patients and controls.
- 75% of acute illness-associated differentially methylated regions were hypomethylated near gene promoters in COVID-19 patients.
- Worse outcomes in COVID-19 patients correlated with hypermethylation; 77 differentially methylated positions predicted severity via GRAM-risk score.
Conclusions:
- DNA methylation may influence gene expression critical for COVID-19 progression.
- Epigenetic modifications represent a potential target for therapeutic intervention in COVID-19.
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