Gayen Nee' Betal Suhita, Urday Pedro, Al-Kouatly Huda B, Solarin Kolawole, Chan Joanna S Y, Addya Sankar, Boelig Rupsa C, Aghai Zubair H
Neonatology, Thomas Jefferson University/Nemours, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Maternal Fetal Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Front Pediatr. 2022 Apr 25;10:834771. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.834771. eCollection 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues worldwide with fluctuating case numbers in the United States. This pandemic has affected every segment of the population with more recent hospitalizations in the pediatric population. Vertical transmission of COVID-19 is uncommon, but reports show that there are thrombotic, vascular, and inflammatory changes in the placenta to which neonates are prenatally exposed. Individuals exposed in utero to influenza during the 1918 pandemic had increased risk for heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, stomach disease and hypertension. Early exposure of COVID-19 during fetal life may lead to altered gene expression with potential long-term consequences.
To determine if gene expression is altered in cord blood cells from term neonates who were exposed to COVID-19 during pregnancy and to identify potential gene pathways impacted by maternal COVID-19.
Cord blood was collected from 16 term neonates (8 exposed to COVID-19 during pregnancy and 8 controls without exposure to COVID-19). Genome-wide gene expression screening was performed using Human Clariom S gene chips on total RNA extracted from cord blood cells.
We identified 510 differentially expressed genes (374 genes up-regulated, 136 genes down-regulated, fold change ≥1.5, -value ≤ 0.05) in cord blood cells associated with exposure to COVID-19 during pregnancy. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis identified important canonical pathways associated with diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hematological disease, embryonic cancer and cellular development. Tox functions related to cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity were also altered after exposure to COVID-19 during pregnancy.
Exposure to COVID-19 during pregnancy induces differential gene expression in cord blood cells. The differentially expressed genes may potentially contribute to cardiac, hepatic, renal and immunological disorders in offspring exposed to COVID-19 during pregnancy. These findings lead to a further understanding of the effects of COVID-19 exposure at an early stage of life and its potential long-term consequences as well as therapeutic targets.
新冠疫情在全球持续蔓延，美国的病例数时有波动。这场疫情影响了各个年龄段的人群，近期儿科人群的住院人数有所增加。新冠病毒的垂直传播并不常见，但报告显示，胎盘存在血栓形成、血管和炎症变化，胎儿在子宫内会接触到这些变化。在1918年大流行期间，子宫内接触流感的个体患心脏病、肾病、糖尿病、胃病和高血压的风险增加。胎儿期早期接触新冠病毒可能会导致基因表达改变，产生潜在的长期后果。
确定孕期接触新冠病毒的足月儿脐带血细胞中的基因表达是否发生改变，并识别受母亲感染新冠病毒影响的潜在基因通路。
收集了16名足月儿的脐带血（8名在孕期接触过新冠病毒，8名未接触过新冠病毒作为对照）。使用人类Clariom S基因芯片对从脐带血细胞中提取的总RNA进行全基因组基因表达筛选。
我们在与孕期接触新冠病毒相关的脐带血细胞中鉴定出510个差异表达基因（374个基因上调，136个基因下调，倍数变化≥1.5，P值≤0.05）。通路分析确定了与心血管疾病、血液疾病、胚胎癌和细胞发育等疾病相关的重要经典通路。孕期接触新冠病毒后，与心脏毒性、肝毒性和肾毒性相关的毒素功能也发生了改变。
孕期接触新冠病毒会诱导脐带血细胞中的基因表达差异。这些差异表达的基因可能会导致孕期接触新冠病毒的后代出现心脏、肝脏、肾脏和免疫紊乱。这些发现有助于进一步了解新冠病毒在生命早期接触的影响及其潜在的长期后果以及治疗靶点。
