Age is a major risk factor for severe outcome of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In this study, we followed the hypothesis that particularly patients with accelerated epigenetic age are affected by severe outcomes of COVID-19. We investigated various DNA methylation datasets of blood samples with epigenetic aging signatures and performed targeted bisulfite amplicon sequencing. Overall, epigenetic clocks closely correlated with the chronological age of patients, either with or without acute respiratory distress syndrome. Furthermore, lymphocytes did not reveal significantly accelerated telomere attrition. Thus, these biomarkers cannot reliably predict higher risk for severe COVID-19 infection in elderly patients.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, age, DNA methylation, telomere, epigenetic clocks, 【초록키워드】 Biomarker, outcome, risk factor, elderly patients, lymphocyte, Patient, 2019 coronavirus disease, dataset, Epigenetic, patients, predict, attrition, acute respiratory distress, Hypothesis, Amplicon sequencing, Severe COVID-19 Infection, higher risk, blood sample, syndrome, performed, affected, significantly, investigated, correlated, accelerated,