ArticleEBioMedicine2021
Epigenome-wide association study of COVID-19 severity with respiratory failure.
Article in EBioMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 84 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
84 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 159 citations in OpenAlex.
- Epigenetic changes in patients with post-acute COVID-19 symptoms (PACS) and long-COVID: A systematic review.Expert reviews in molecular medicine · 2024Pooled it
- DNA methylation predicts the outcome of COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.Journal of translational medicine · 2022Trial
- Multi-omic characterization of pediatric ARDS via nasal brushings.Respiratory research · 2022Trial
- Unraveling the layers of epigenetic control in respiratory antiviral defense.Journal of virology · 2026Review
- DNAm landscape up to 4 months post SARS-CoV-2 infection: insights from four population-based cohorts.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Article
- The PM20D1-OLE pathway induces microglia rewiring to ameliorate Alzheimer disease.Cell death & disease · 2026Article
- Expanding role of cell-free DNA for the early diagnosis and monitoring of pulmonary diseases.Chinese medical journal · 2026Review
- An atlas of genetic effects on the monocyte methylome across European and African populations.Genome medicine · 2026Article
- Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling in COVID-19 positive patients reveals alterations in pathways linked to neurological dysfunction.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Article
- Article
- COVID-19 Hijacking of the Host Epigenome: Mechanisms, Biomarkers and Long-Term Consequences.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Identification of reactive CpGs and RNA expression in early COVID-19 through cis-eQTM analysis reflecting disease severity and recovery.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Evaluation of methylation changes in blood cells of COVID-19 patients as a biomarker of severity of the infection.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Differential DNA methylation 7 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection.Clinical epigenetics · 2025Article
- Methylation patterns of the nasal epigenome of hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 positive patients reveal insights into molecular mechanisms of COVID-19.BMC medical genomics · 2025Article
- Genetic and Epigenetic Intersections in COVID-19-Associated Cardiovascular Disease: Emerging Insights and Future Directions.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- The COVID-19 legacy: consequences for the human DNA methylome and therapeutic perspectives.GeroScience · 2025Review
- HLA-C Peptide Repertoires as Predictors of Clinical Response during Early SARS-CoV-2 Infection.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The emerging role of SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein 1 (nsp1) in epigenetic regulation of host gene expression.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2024Review
- A comprehensive map of the aging blood methylome in humans.Genome biology · 2024Article
24 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
32 authors at 18 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), exhibit a wide spectrum of disease behaviour. Since DNA methylation has been implicated in the regulation of viral infections and the immune system, we performed an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) to identify candidate loci regulated by this epigenetic mark that could be involved in the onset of COVID-19 in patients without comorbidities.
methodsPeripheral blood samples were obtained from 407 confirmed COVID-19 patients ≤ 61 years of age and without comorbidities, 194 (47.7%) of whom had mild symptomatology that did not involve hospitalization and 213 (52.3%) had a severe clinical course that required respiratory support. The set of cases was divided into discovery (n = 207) and validation (n = 200) cohorts, balanced for age and sex of individuals. We analysed the DNA methylation status of 850,000 CpG sites in these patients.
findingsThe DNA methylation status of 44 CpG sites was associated with the clinical severity of COVID-19. Of these loci, 23 (52.3%) were located in 20 annotated coding genes. These genes, such as the inflammasome component Absent in Melanoma 2 (AIM2) and the Major Histocompatibility Complex, class I C (HLA-C) candidates, were mainly involved in the response of interferon to viral infection. We used the EWAS-identified sites to establish a DNA methylation signature (EPICOVID) that is associated with the severity of the disease.
interpretationWe identified DNA methylation sites as epigenetic susceptibility loci for respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients. These candidate biomarkers, combined with other clinical, cellular and genetic factors, could be useful in the clinical stratification and management of patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2.
fundingThe Unstoppable campaign of the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Foundation, the Cellex Foundation and the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya.
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