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Review
. 2024 Jun 10:15:1399676.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1399676. eCollection 2024.

The impact of COVID-19 on "biological aging"

Fathima Humaira Amanullah  1 , Tanvir Alam  2 , Nady El Hajj  1   2 , Yosra Bejaoui  1
Affiliations
Review

The impact of COVID-19 on "biological aging"

Fathima Humaira Amanullah et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

The global impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been unprecedented, posing a significant public health challenge. Chronological age has been identified as a key determinant for severe outcomes associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Epigenetic age acceleration has previously been observed in various diseases including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Cytomegalovirus (CMV), cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. However, a comprehensive review of this topic is still missing in the field. In this review, we explore and summarize the research work focusing on biological aging markers, i.e., epigenetic age and telomere attrition in COVID-19 patients. From the reviewed articles, we identified a consistent pattern of epigenetic age dysregulation and shortened telomere length, revealing the impact of COVID-19 on epigenetic aging and telomere attrition.

Keywords: COVID-19; DNA methylation; biological aging; epigenetic clocks; telomere attrition.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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