Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Basic Medical College, Chongqing Medical University, Yuzhong District, Yi XueYuan Road, No 1, Chongqing 400016, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Jan 30;24(3):2591. doi: 10.3390/ijms24032591.
Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a rapid increase in death rates all over the world. Sepsis is a life-threatening disease associated with a dysregulated host immune response. It has been shown that COVID-19 shares many similarities with sepsis in many aspects. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying sepsis and COVID-19 are not well understood. The aim of this study was to identify common transcriptional signatures, regulators, and pathways between COVID-19 and sepsis, which may provide a new direction for the treatment of COVID-19 and sepsis. First, COVID-19 blood gene expression profile (GSE179850) data and sepsis blood expression profile (GSE134347) data were obtained from GEO. Then, we intersected the differentially expressed genes (DEG) from these two datasets to obtain common DEGs. Finally, the common DEGs were used for functional enrichment analysis, transcription factor and miRNA prediction, pathway analysis, and candidate drug analysis. A total of 307 common DEGs were identified between the sepsis and COVID-19 datasets. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) were constructed using the STRING database. Subsequently, hub genes were identified based on PPI networks. In addition, we performed GO functional analysis and KEGG pathway analysis of common DEGs, and found a common association between sepsis and COVID-19. Finally, we identified transcription factor-gene interaction, DEGs-miRNA co-regulatory networks, and protein-drug interaction, respectively. Through ROC analysis, we identified 10 central hub genes as potential biomarkers. In this study, we identified SARS-CoV-2 infection as a high risk factor for sepsis. Our study may provide a potential therapeutic direction for the treatment of COVID-19 patients suffering from sepsis.
严重的 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）导致全球死亡率迅速上升。败血症是一种危及生命的疾病，与宿主免疫反应失调有关。已经表明，COVID-19 在许多方面与败血症有许多相似之处。然而，败血症和 COVID-19 的分子机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在确定 COVID-19 和败血症之间的常见转录特征、调节剂和途径，这可能为 COVID-19 和败血症的治疗提供新的方向。首先，从 GEO 中获得 COVID-19 血液基因表达谱（GSE179850）数据和败血症血液表达谱（GSE134347）数据。然后，我们将这两个数据集的差异表达基因（DEG）进行交集，以获得共同的 DEG。最后，共同的 DEG 用于功能富集分析、转录因子和 miRNA 预测、通路分析和候选药物分析。在败血症和 COVID-19 数据集中共鉴定出 307 个共同的 DEG。使用 STRING 数据库构建蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）。随后，根据 PPI 网络确定枢纽基因。此外，我们对共同的 DEG 进行了 GO 功能分析和 KEGG 通路分析，发现败血症和 COVID-19 之间存在共同关联。最后，我们分别鉴定了转录因子-基因相互作用、DEGs-miRNA 共调控网络和蛋白质-药物相互作用。通过 ROC 分析，我们鉴定出 10 个中心枢纽基因作为潜在的生物标志物。在这项研究中，我们确定了 SARS-CoV-2 感染是败血症的一个高风险因素。我们的研究可能为治疗 COVID-19 患者并发败血症提供潜在的治疗方向。
