Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Publication Date

7-1-2023

Journal

Journal of Endodontics

Abstract

Introduction: Increased levels of proinflammatory markers have been reported in tissues of individuals with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). We hypothesize that inflamed dental pulp tissues of individuals with previous history of COVID-19 may present a differential inflammatory gene expression profile in comparison with individuals who never had COVID-19.

Materials and methods: Dental pulp tissues were collected from 27 individuals referred for endodontic treatment due to symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. Of these, 16 individuals had a history of COVID-19 (6 months to 1 year post infection) and 11 individuals had no previous history of COVID-19 (controls). Total RNA from pulp tissue samples was extracted and subjected to RNA sequencing for comparison of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) among groups. DEGs showing log2(fold change) > 1 or < -1, and P < .05 were considered significantly dysregulated.

Results: RNA sequencing identified 1461 genes as differentially expressed among the groups. Of these, 311 were protein coding genes, 252 (81%) that were upregulated and 59 (19%) that were downregulated in the COVID group compared with controls. The top upregulated genes in the COVID group were HSFX1 (4.12-fold change) and LINGO3 (2.06-fold change); significantly downregulated genes were LYZ (-1.52-fold change), CCL15 and IL8 (-1.45-fold change).

Conclusions: Differential gene expression in dental pulp tissues of COVID and non-COVID groups suggests potential contribution of COVID-19 on dysregulating inflammatory gene expression in the inflamed dental pulp.

Keywords

Humans, Pulpitis, Dental Pulp, COVID-19, Heat Shock Transcription Factors, Heat-Shock Proteins

DOI

10.1016/j.joen.2023.05.002

PMID

37178757

PMCID

PMC10174733

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

5-12-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

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