背景:自噬在冠状病毒感染和复制中的作用有很多争论。自噬涉及随后由溶酶体再循环的细胞内组分的催化分解。该研究的目的是评估自噬基因;COVID-19患者中PIK3C3和RAB7A的表达,并确定PIK3C3和RAB7A是否可以用作监测COVID-19患者的标志物。
方法:对50例患者和50例健康对照进行病例对照研究。使用定量实时聚合酶链反应进行基因表达。
结果:与对照组相比,PIK3C3和RAB7A基因表达水平在患者中显著降低(p<0.001),在PIK3C3和RAB7A中分别降低约9.4和2.3倍。PIK3C3和RAB7A表达的ROC曲线分别显示了84%和74%的敏感性和98%和78%的特异性。PIK3C3表达与WBCs呈正相关,中性粒细胞绝对计数,白细胞介素-6,D-二聚体,和ALT患者之间以及RAB7A表达和WBC之间,CRP,IL-6、D-二聚体和ALT。
结论:研究显示COVID-19患者中PIK3C3和RAB7A的表达降低。然而,建议进一步研究以阐明它们作为自噬基因在疾病致病机制中的作用.
BACKGROUND: The role of autophagy in coronaviruses infection and replication has a lot of debate. Autophagy involves the catalytic breakdown of intracellular components to be subsequently recycled by the lysosome. The aim of the study was to evaluate autophagy genes; PIK3C3 and RAB7A expressions in COVID-19 patients, and identify if PIK3C3 and RAB7A can be used as markers for monitoring COVID-19 patients.
METHODS: A case-control study was carried out on 50 patients and 50 healthy controls. Genes expression was performed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.
RESULTS: Compared to controls, PIK3C3 and RAB7A gene expression levels were significantly lower in patients (p < 0.001) with approximately with 9.4 and 2.3 decreased fold in PIK3C3 and RAB7A respectively. The ROC curve of PIK3C3 and RAB7A expressions showed sensitivity of 84 % and 74 % and specificity of 98 % and 78 % respectively. There was a positive correlation between PIK3C3 expression and WBCs, absolute neutrophil count, interleukin-6, D-dimer, and ALT among patients and between RAB7A expression and WBCs, CRP, IL-6, D-dimer and ALT in patients.
CONCLUSIONS: The study showed reduction of PIK3C3 and RAB7A expressions in COVID-19 patients. However, further studies are recommended to clarify their roles in the disease pathogenies as autophagy genes.