Evaluation of DNA break as a prognosis biomarker in Covid-19 patients in Velayat Hospital, Damghan by commet assay

The coronavirus-19 pandemic is a major global health crisis. Covid-19 is a complex disease with diverse clinical features, from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and dysfunction of a number of organs. Prognostic  biomarkers are needed to quickly detect the severity of Covid-19, early in the course of the disease. The purpose of this study is to explain the amount of DNA break as a biomarker for disease prognosis in patients with covid-19.

The comet assay was used to compare the damage caused in the DNA of mononuclear lymphocytes in patients with covid-19 in 4 groups; control, hospitalized in the normal ward, hospitalized in the ICU and not intubated, hospitalized in the ICU and intubated.

The results of examining DNA damage in lymphocytes showed that covid-19 leads to cell damage and especially long-term intubation of covid-19 patients in the ICU, caused more DNA damage and caused more tails increase.

The comparison of tails in 4 groups shows that: in people hospitalized in the normal ward, cell damage was less, which could be due to the activation of DNA damage repair systems. As a result, DNA break of lymphocytes has a significant relationship with the prognosis of the disease in patients with Covid-19.  In this study, the comet assay was used to compare the damage caused in the DNA of mononuclear lymphocytes in patients with covid-19 in 4 groups; control, hospitalized in the normal ward, hospitalized in the ICU and not intubated, hospitalized in the ICU and intubated.