ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an acute infectious disease of the respiratory tract caused by a new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. A global vaccination program against SARS-CoV-2 continues, and the incidence of COVID-19 worldwide is significantly decreasing. However, among millions of those who survived COVID-19, numerous groups will need assistance due to increased clinical consequences after COVID-19. Currently, there is a need to search for molecular biomarkers for monitoring the onset and progression of post-COVID syndrome. For this purpose, the relative average length of chromosome regions was studied in the groups of women of reproductive age: in the group of patients (n = 64) recovered from COVID-19 and in the control group (n = 42) of women of the same age. The analysis was carried out using a method of multiplex monochrome quantitative real-time PCR on DNA samples isolated from the peripheral blood leukocytes. According to the results of the study, it was established that the relative average length of chromosomes in the peripheral blood leukocytes was statistically significantly lower in the group of patients with COVID-19 than in the control group (p < 0.05). The results obtained allow one to state that the observed shortening of the relative average length of telomeres in the group of patients that recovered from COVID-19 can indicate that SARS-CoV-2 infection can directly cause the erosion of telomeres in the blood cells, particularly, in leukocytes. Thus, the determination of the relative average length of telomeres can be an informative prognostic marker for estimating the risk of the severity of COVID-19 disease and the development of post-COVID syndrome.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which was first recorded in China in December 2019, quickly spread to other countries and in a short period of time, the local outbreak escalated into a pandemic. There are significantly more cases of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in European countries than in East Asia, where the disease was first detected. Such population differences are unique, especially for SARS-CoV-2 and are due to both socio-behavioral differences and features of the gene pool of the population of different countries. For infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, an important point is the genetic characteristics of individuals, which can determine its resistance or susceptibility to infection. Therefore, studies of the factors of hereditary predisposition to SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as severity and mortality are extremely relevant. After genotyping among the healthy population of Ukraine and collecting relevant data from some European countries, we determined the correlation between morbidity, mortality from COVID-19 and the prevalence of genotype II (ACE1, I/D polymorphism) in the populations of Ukraine and several European countries. There was a negative correlation between the carrier of genotype II and susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection per one million population (R = -0.53, p < 0.05), so individuals with genotype II can be considered more resistant to infection SARS-CoV-2. Further study of the role of allelic variants of the ACE1 gene in the development of severity and complications affected patients of COVID-19, are promising for identified of genetic markers for development of personalized therapy.
ABSTRACT
The objective of this study - to evaluate the impact of the markers of oxidative stress and HRV to stroke. The comprehensive clinical and instrumental study involved 84 patients with the diagnosis "Cerebral Atherosclerosis" (CA). Study design: simple, prospective, non-randomized, with sequential inclusion of patients. All patients underwent generally accepted clinical, laboratory and instrumental examination. All patients received antihypertensive drugs and metformin if they had DM and didn't receive any statins. Patients were divided into the 2 groups: I - those who underwent ischemic stroke (IS), II - with CA of 1-2 degrees. Mean age was 65.5±10.2 and 66.0±9.3 years, respectively. The number of patients with type 2 diabetes and the average fasting glucose was comparable in both groups. The LF/HF indicator reflects the state of the sympatho-parasympathetic balance of the ANS. Large values of this indicator indicate the predominance of the tone of the sympathetic ANS, which was observed (p <0.05) in patients of the 2nd group, while HF, LF and VLF were also higher (p>0.05) in the group of patients with cerebral atherosclerosis of 1-2 stages and above normal international values. Both groups were comparable in terms of telomere length and telomerase activity, as well as markers of oxidative stress, with the exception of GSH, which was higher in post-stroke patients (p>0.05). Our findings show that markers of oxidative stress together with HRV indices are useful for the atherothrombotic stroke risk assessment in the elderly. Future longitudinal study with bigger sample size and, probably wide panel of markers required for clarifying links between oxidative stress, HRV and stroke.