Proteomic Analysis Identifies Prolonged Disturbances in Pathways Related to Cholesterol Metabolism and Myocardium Function in the COVID-19 Recovery Stage

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a worldwide health crisis. So far, most studies have focused on the epidemiology and pathogenesis of this infectious disease. Little attention has been given to the disease sequelae in patients recovering from COVID-19, and nothing is known about the mechanisms underlying these sequelae. Herein, we profiled the serum proteome of a cohort of COVID-19 patients in the disease onset and recovery stages. Based on the close integration of our proteomic analysis with clinical data, we propose that COVID-19 is associated with prolonged disorders in cholesterol metabolism and myocardium, even in the recovery stage. We identify potential biomarkers for these disorders. Moreover, severely affected patients presented more serious disturbances in these pathways. Our findings potentially support clinical decision-making to improve the prognosis and treatment of patients.

COVIDomics: The Proteomic and Metabolomic Signatures of COVID-19

“…Chen Y. et al [ 44 ] profiled via DIA-MS the serum proteome of 10 moderate and 6 severe COVID-19 patients (and 10 healthy controls) during the disease and at recovery stages. A first analysis was performed to explain the long-term disturbances affecting subjects also after recovery.…”

“… The main findings obtained from the review of proteomics studies are summarized. In particular, the results from plasma [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 ] and serum [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 83 , 86 ] studies were merged to identify the common proteins (top) that should represent the proteome signature of COVID-19. These protein entries were analyzed and clustered using STRING version 11.5, revealing the formation of three main clusters (bottom).…”

Risks and burdens of incident dyslipidaemia in long COVID: a cohort study

“…Evidence suggests substantial alterations in metabolomic and proteomic profiles, oral and gut microbiome, and lipid metabolism following SARS-CoV-2 infection in previously healthy individuals, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 with some of these abnormalities persisting even in the post-acute stage (ie, >30 days after SARS-CoV-2 infection) of COVID-19. 5 Although total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol are often reduced during the acute phase of SARS-CoV-2 infection, emerging evidence from small observational studies with short follow-ups (of up to 6 months) suggest increased risk of dyslipidaemia in the post-acute phase of COVID-19. 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 A study of 501 young adults (aged 18–30 days) of the Swiss Armed Forces showed that compared with non-infected controls, those with COVID-19 had a higher blood cholesterol and LDL concentrations 180 days after their first positive PCR test.…”

Exploratory Study on Application of MALDI-TOF-MS to Detect SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Human Saliva

“…Retesting of NPS samples to control the rate of false-negatives would be advisable, nevertheless, it was not possible because the molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 on NPS samples was performed in the frame of routine laboratory diagnosis and we do not have access to these samples. Despite a negative RT-qPCR result, the persistence of virus molecules or infection-related proteins would likely occur, and sustainability of serological inflammatory markers several days or weeks after patients recovery was reported [51,52]. These long-term protein dysregulations could perturb ML classification.…”