COVID-19 and alcohol use disorder: putative differential gene expression patterns that might be associated with neurological complications

Jibran Sualeh Muhammad*, Ruqaiyyah Siddiqui, Naveed Ahmed Khan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)189-195
Number of pages7
JournalHospital Practice
Volume50
Issue number3
Early online date20 Jun 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Alcoholism
  • COVID-19
  • in silico analysis
  • neurological manifestations
  • SARS-CoV-2

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Biochemistry
  • Health Information Management
  • General Medicine

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