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HUMAN ENDOGENOUS RETROVIRUS K IN THE RESPIRATORY TRACT IS ASSOCIATED WITH COVID‑19 PHYSIOPATHOLOGY
Trato respiratório
Associação
Fisiopatologia
COVID-19
Author
Affilliation
Abstract
Background: Critically ill 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients under invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV)
are 10 to 40 times more likely to die than the general population. Although progression from mild to severe COVID-19
has been associated with hypoxia, uncontrolled inflammation, and coagulopathy, the mechanisms involved in the
progression to severity are poorly understood.
Methods: The virome of tracheal aspirates (TA) from 25 COVID-19 patients under IMV was assessed through unbiased
RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and correlation analyses were conducted using available clinical data. Unbiased
sequences from nasopharyngeal swabs (NS) from mild cases and TA from non-COVID patients were included in our
study for further comparisons.
Results: We found higher levels and differential expression of human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K) genes in TA
from critically ill and deceased patients when comparing nasopharyngeal swabs from mild cases to TA from non-
COVID patients. In critically ill patients, higher HERV-K levels were associated with early mortality (within 14 days of
diagnosis) in the intensive care unit. Increased HERV-K expression in deceased patients was associated with IL-17-related
inflammation, monocyte activation, and an increased consumption of clotting/fibrinolysis factors. Moreover,
increased HERV-K expression was detected in human primary monocytes from healthy donors after experimental
SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro.
Conclusion: Our data implicate the levels of HERV-K transcripts in the physiopathology of COVID-19 in the respiratory
tract of patients under invasive mechanical ventilation.
Keywords in Portuguese
Retrovírus endógeno humano KTrato respiratório
Associação
Fisiopatologia
COVID-19
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