Scientific Reports (Dec 2023)

The biomarkers’ landscape of post-COVID-19 patients can suggest selective clinical interventions

  • Debora Paris,
  • Letizia Palomba,
  • Maria Cristina Albertini,
  • Annabella Tramice,
  • Lorenzo Motta,
  • Eleonora Giammattei,
  • Pasquale Ambrosino,
  • Mauro Maniscalco,
  • Andrea Motta

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49601-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Abstract In COVID-19 clinical symptoms can persist even after negativization also in individuals who have had mild or moderate disease. We here investigated the biomarkers that define the post-COVID-19 clinical state analyzing the exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of 38 post COVID-19 patients and 38 sex and age-matched healthy controls via nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-based metabolomics. Predicted gene-modulated microRNAs (miRNAs) related to COVID-19 were quantified from EBC of 10 patients and 10 controls. Finally, clinical parameters from all post-COVID-19 patients were correlated with metabolomic data. Post-COVID-19 patients and controls showed different metabolic phenotype (“metabotype”). From the metabolites, by using enrichment analysis we identified miRNAs that resulted up-regulated (hsa-miR146a-5p) and down-regulated (hsa-miR-126-3p and hsa-miR-223-3p) in post-COVID-19. Taken together, our multiomics data indicate that post-COVID-19 patients before rehabilitation are characterized by persistent inflammation, dysregulation of liver, endovascular thrombotic and pulmonary processes, and physical impairment, which should be the primary clinical targets to contrast the post-acute sequelae of COVID-19.