Preprint
Human endogenous retrovirus K activation in the lower respiratory tract of severe COVID-19 patients associates with early mortality
Registro en:
TEMEROZO, Jairo et al. Human endogenous retrovirus K activation in the lower respiratory tract of severe COVID-19 patients associates with early mortality. Research Square, p. 1-37, 2021.
Autor
Temerozo, Jairo Ramos
Fintelman-Rodrigues, Natalia
Santos, Monique Cristina
Hottz, Eugênio
Sacramento, Carolina
Silva, Aline
Mandacaru, Samuel
Moraes, Emilly Caroline
Trugilho, Monique
Gesto, João
Ferreira, Marcelo
Betoni, Felipe
Martins-Gonçalves, Remy
Quintanilha, Isaclaudia Gomes de Azevedo
Abrantes, Juliana L.
Righy, Cassia
Kurtz, Pedro
Jiang, Hui
Tan, Hongdong
Morel, Carlos Medicis
Bou-Habib, Dumith Chequer
Bozza, Fernando A.
Bozza, Patrícia Torres
Souza, Thiago Moreno L.
Resumen
This is a preprint, a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice. Critically ill 2019 coronavirus disease patients (COVID-19) 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 progression to severity are poorly understood. By analyzing the virome from tracheal aspirates (TA) of 25 COVID-19 patients under IMV, we found higher levels and differential expression of human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K) genes compared to nasopharyngeal swabs from mild cases and TA from non-COVID patients. Proteomic analysis and RT-PCR confirmed the
presence of HERV-K in these patients. Moreover, increased HERV-K expression was triggered in human primary monocytes from healthy donors after experimental SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. In critically ill patients, higher HERV-K levels were associated with early mortality (within 14 days) in the intensive care unit. Increased HERV-K expression in deceased patients associated with IL-17-related inflammation, monocyte activation and higher consumption of clotting/fibrinolysis factors. Our data implicate the levels of HERV-K transcripts in the outcome of critical COVID-19 patients under invasive mechanical
ventilation.