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. 2023 May 20;12(5):1133.
doi: 10.3390/antiox12051133.

COVID-19: Focusing on the Link between Inflammation, Vitamin D, MAPK Pathway and Oxidative Stress Genetics

Jessica Cusato  1 , Alessandra Manca  1 , Alice Palermiti  1 , Jacopo Mula  1 , Martina Costanzo  1 , Miriam Antonucci  2 , Francesco Chiara  3 , Elisa Delia De Vivo  1 , Domenico Maiese  1 , Micol Ferrara  2 , Stefano Bonora  4 , Giovanni Di Perri  4 , Antonio D'Avolio  1 , Andrea Calcagno  4
Affiliations

COVID-19: Focusing on the Link between Inflammation, Vitamin D, MAPK Pathway and Oxidative Stress Genetics

Jessica Cusato et al. Antioxidants (Basel). .

Abstract

An uncontrolled inflammatory response during SARS-CoV-2 infection has been highlighted in several studies. This seems to be due to pro-inflammatory cytokines whose production could be regulated by vitamin D, ROS production or mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Several genetic studies are present in the literature concerning genetic influences on COVID-19 characteristics, but there are few data on oxidative stress, vitamin D, MAPK and inflammation-related factors, considering gender and age. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms in these pathways, clarifying their impact in affecting COVID-19-related clinical features. Genetic polymorphisms were evaluated through real-time PCR. We prospectively enrolled 160 individuals: 139 patients were positive for SARS-CoV-2 detection. We detected different genetic variants able to affect the symptoms and oxygenation. Furthermore, two sub-analyses were performed considering gender and age, showing a different impact of polymorphisms according to these characteristics. This is the first study highlighting a possible contribution of genetic variants of these pathways in affecting COVID-19 clinical features. This may be relevant in order to clarify the COVID-19 etiopathogenesis and to understand the possible genetic contribution for further SARS infections.

Keywords: MAPK; SARS-CoV-2; vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

A.C. received honoraria from Gilead, Insmed, Janssen-Cilag, M.S.D., Viiv and he is currently receiving research grants from Gilead and Viiv. G.D.P. and S.B. received honoraria from Abbvie, B.M.S., Gilead, Janssen-Cilag, M.S.D, Viiv. A.B. advisory board from ViiV Healthcare, personal fees from Janssen Cilag. The other authors declare no conflict of interest.

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