Landscape of molecular crosstalk between SARS-CoV-2 infection and cardiovascular diseases: emphasis on mitochondrial dysfunction and immune-inflammation

Abstract

Background SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen of COVID-19, is a worldwide threat to human health and causes a long-term burden on the cardiovascular system. Individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular diseases are at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and tend to have a worse prognosis. However, the relevance and pathogenic mechanisms between COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases are not yet completely comprehended. Methods Common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained in datasets of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) infected with SARS-CoV-2 and myocardial tissues from heart failure patients. Further GO and KEGG pathway analysis, protein–protein interaction (PPI) network construction, hub genes identification, immune microenvironment analysis, and drug candidate predication were performed. Then, an isoproterenol-stimulated myocardial hypertrophy cell model and a transverse aortic constriction-induced mouse heart failure model were employed to validate the expression of hub genes. Results A total of 315 up-regulated and 78 down-regulated common DEGs were identified. Functional enrichment analysis revealed mitochondrial metabolic disorders and extensive immune inflammation as the most prominent shared features of COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases. Then, hub DEGs, as well as hub immune-related and mitochondria-related DEGs, were screened. Additionally, nine potential therapeutic agents for COVID-19-related cardiovascular diseases were proposed. Furthermore, the expression patterns of most of the hub genes related to cardiovascular diseases in the validation dataset along with cellular and mouse myocardial damage models, were consistent with the findings of bioinformatics analysis. Conclusions The study unveiled the molecular networks and signaling pathways connecting COVID-19 and cardiovascular diseases, which may provide novel targets for intervention of COVID-19-related cardiovascular diseases.

Post COVID-19 Reflections and Questions: How Prepared Are We for the Next Pandemic?

“…Furthermore, this short treatment period also allowed for the rapid approval of drug trials due to the emergency, life-threatening COVID-19 pandemic conditions [13]. Similar approaches have also been considered for the development of drugs for the treatment of the severe acute respiratory syndrome and other life-threatening side effects of the virus, affecting other systems in addition to the respiratory system, such as the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, nervous, immune and hematopoietic systems [20][21][22][23][24][25]. A different approach has been considered for the development of other drugs that are related to each of the different stages of COVID-19 and also for the "long COVID" side effects [11,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33].…”