Transcriptomic analysis revealed increased expression of genes involved in keratinization in the tears of COVID-19 patients
Leonardo Mastropasqua, Lisa Toto, Luigi Chiricosta, Francesca Diomede, Agnese Gugliandolo, Serena Silvestro, Guya Diletta Marconi, Bruna Sinjari, Jacopo Vecchiet, Francesco Cipollone, Damiano D’Ardes, Antonio Auricchio, Manuela Lanzini, Sergio Caputi, Rossella D’Aloisio, Emanuela Mazzon, Oriana Trubiani
Abstract
Recent studies have focused their attention on conjunctivitis as one of the symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, tear samples were taken from COVID-19 patients and the presence of SARS-CoV-2 was evidenced using Real Time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The main aim of this study was to analyze mRNA expression in the tears of patients with COVID-19 compared with healthy subjects using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). The functional evaluation of the transcriptome highlighted 25 genes that differ statistically between healthy individuals and patients affected by COVID-19. In particular, the NGS analysis identified the presence of several genes involved in B cell signaling and keratinization. In particular, the genes involved in B cell signaling were downregulated in the tears of COVID-19 patients, while those involved in keratinization were upregulated. The results indicated that SARS-CoV-2 may induce a process of ocular keratinization and a defective B cell response.