Plasma Proteins Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Puerto Rico

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 25; no. 10; p. 5426
• Main Authors: Rosario-Rodríguez, Lester J., Cantres-Rosario, Yadira M., Carrasquillo-Carrión, Kelvin, Rosa-Díaz, Alexandra, Rodríguez-De Jesús, Ana E., Rivera-Nieves, Verónica, Tosado-Rodríguez, Eduardo L., Méndez, Loyda B., Roche-Lima, Abiel, Bertrán, Jorge, Meléndez, Loyda M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.05.2024
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Analysis; Artificial intelligence; Asymptomatic; Blood Proteins - analysis; Blood Proteins - metabolism; China; COVID-19; COVID-19 - blood; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - virology; Cytokines; Cytokines - blood; Cytokines - metabolism; Development and progression; Disease; Diseases; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; Female; Hemoglobin; Humans; Kinases; Male; Massachusetts; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Nitric oxide; Plasma; Proteins; Proteomics; Proteomics - methods; Puerto Rico - epidemiology; SARS-CoV-2; Scientific equipment and supplies industry; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Severity of Illness Index; Standard scores; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Tumor necrosis factor; United States; Young Adult; Puerto Rico; United States; Massachusetts; China; United States > US; COVID-19; Puerto Rico; SARS-CoV-2; T-cadherin; H-cadherin; TNF-α; proteomics; cadherin-13
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms25105426

Viral strains, age, and host factors are associated with variable immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 and disease severity. Puerto Ricans have a genetic mixture of races: European, African, and Native American. We hypothesized that unique host proteins/pathways are associated with COVID-19 disease severity in Puerto Rico. Following IRB approval, a total of 95 unvaccinated men and women aged 21–71 years old were recruited in Puerto Rico from 2020–2021. Plasma samples were collected from COVID-19-positive subjects (n = 39) and COVID-19-negative individuals (n = 56) during acute disease. COVID-19-positive individuals were stratified based on symptomatology as follows: mild (n = 18), moderate (n = 13), and severe (n = 8). Quantitative proteomics was performed in plasma samples using tandem mass tag (TMT) labeling. Labeled peptides were subjected to LC/MS/MS and analyzed by Proteome Discoverer (version 2.5), Limma software (version 3.41.15), and Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA, version 22.0.2). Cytokines were quantified using a human cytokine array. Proteomics analyses of severely affected COVID-19-positive individuals revealed 58 differentially expressed proteins. Cadherin-13, which participates in synaptogenesis, was downregulated in severe patients and validated by ELISA. Cytokine immunoassay showed that TNF-α levels decreased with disease severity. This study uncovers potential host predictors of COVID-19 severity and new avenues for treatment in Puerto Ricans.