Epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 infection

Abstract RT-PCR is the foremost clinical test for diagnosis of COVID-19. Unfortunately, PCR-based testing has limitations and may not result in a positive test early in the course of infection before symptoms develop. Enveloped RNA viruses, such as coronaviruses, alter peripheral blood methylation a...

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Main Authors: Cosby G. Arnold, Iain Konigsberg, Jason Y. Adams, Sunita Sharma, Neil Aggarwal, Andrew Hopkinson, Alexis Vest, Monica Campbell, Meher Boorgula, Ivana Yang, Christopher Gignoux, Kathleen C. Barnes, Andrew A. Monte
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2022-07-01
Series:Human Genomics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40246-022-00401-3
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author Cosby G. Arnold
Iain Konigsberg
Jason Y. Adams
Sunita Sharma
Neil Aggarwal
Andrew Hopkinson
Alexis Vest
Monica Campbell
Meher Boorgula
Ivana Yang
Christopher Gignoux
Kathleen C. Barnes
Andrew A. Monte
author_facet Cosby G. Arnold
Iain Konigsberg
Jason Y. Adams
Sunita Sharma
Neil Aggarwal
Andrew Hopkinson
Alexis Vest
Monica Campbell
Meher Boorgula
Ivana Yang
Christopher Gignoux
Kathleen C. Barnes
Andrew A. Monte
author_sort Cosby G. Arnold
collection DOAJ
description Abstract RT-PCR is the foremost clinical test for diagnosis of COVID-19. Unfortunately, PCR-based testing has limitations and may not result in a positive test early in the course of infection before symptoms develop. Enveloped RNA viruses, such as coronaviruses, alter peripheral blood methylation and DNA methylation signatures may characterize asymptomatic versus symptomatic infection. We used Illumina’s Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip array to profile peripheral blood samples from 164 patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR, of whom 8 had no symptoms. Epigenome-wide association analysis identified 10 methylation sites associated with infection and a quantile–quantile plot showed little inflation. These preliminary results suggest that differences in methylation patterns may distinguish asymptomatic from symptomatic infection.
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spelling doaj.art-650e0c2aa78c4e518114418ee2506c812022-12-22T02:19:09ZengBMCHuman Genomics1479-73642022-07-011611610.1186/s40246-022-00401-3Epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 infectionCosby G. Arnold0Iain Konigsberg1Jason Y. Adams2Sunita Sharma3Neil Aggarwal4Andrew Hopkinson5Alexis Vest6Monica Campbell7Meher Boorgula8Ivana Yang9Christopher Gignoux10Kathleen C. Barnes11Andrew A. Monte12Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, DavisDivision of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDivision of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of California, DavisDivision of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDivision of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDivision of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDivision of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDivision of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDivision of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDivision of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusDepartment of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical CampusAbstract RT-PCR is the foremost clinical test for diagnosis of COVID-19. Unfortunately, PCR-based testing has limitations and may not result in a positive test early in the course of infection before symptoms develop. Enveloped RNA viruses, such as coronaviruses, alter peripheral blood methylation and DNA methylation signatures may characterize asymptomatic versus symptomatic infection. We used Illumina’s Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip array to profile peripheral blood samples from 164 patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR, of whom 8 had no symptoms. Epigenome-wide association analysis identified 10 methylation sites associated with infection and a quantile–quantile plot showed little inflation. These preliminary results suggest that differences in methylation patterns may distinguish asymptomatic from symptomatic infection.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40246-022-00401-3SARS-CoV-2COVID-19MethylationEpigenetics
spellingShingle Cosby G. Arnold
Iain Konigsberg
Jason Y. Adams
Sunita Sharma
Neil Aggarwal
Andrew Hopkinson
Alexis Vest
Monica Campbell
Meher Boorgula
Ivana Yang
Christopher Gignoux
Kathleen C. Barnes
Andrew A. Monte
Epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 infection
Human Genomics
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Methylation
Epigenetics
title Epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 infection
title_full Epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 infection
title_fullStr Epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 infection
title_full_unstemmed Epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 infection
title_short Epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic COVID-19 infection
title_sort epigenetics may characterize asymptomatic covid 19 infection
topic SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Methylation
Epigenetics
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40246-022-00401-3
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