Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41566340›Full record

ArticleJournal of translational medicine2026

Transcriptome changes in circulating immune cells of critical COVID-19 patients predict a specific metabolic and epigenetic imprint.

Federico Virga, Daniela Taverna, Giulio Ferrero, Marine Leclercq, Najla El Hachem, Gerard Godoy-Tena, Cato Jacobs, Sonia Tarallo, Barbara Pardini, Alessio Naccarati and 6 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04327570 (In-depth Characterisation of the Dynamic Host Immune Response to Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04327570 recruitingnot on this map

In-depth Characterisation of the Dynamic Host Immune Response to Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorUniversitaire Ziekenhuizen KU LeuvenRan2020 to 2028Enrolled100ConditionsCoronavirus InfectionsArmsPatient sampling
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Federico Virga *Laboratory of Tumor Inflammation and Angiogenesis, Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium. federico.virga@cnic.es.
Daniela Taverna *Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
Giulio Ferrero *Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Torino, Turin, Italy.
Marine LeclercqCancer Signaling, GIGA Stem Cells, Liège University, Liège, Belgium.
Najla El HachemCancer Signaling, GIGA Stem Cells, Liège University, Liège, Belgium.
Gerard Godoy-TenaLaboratory of Tumor Inflammation and Angiogenesis, Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium.
Cato JacobsMedical Intensive Care Unit, Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Sonia TaralloItalian Institute for Genomic Medicine, Turin, Italy.
Barbara PardiniItalian Institute for Genomic Medicine, Turin, Italy.
Alessio NaccaratiItalian Institute for Genomic Medicine, Turin, Italy.
Joost WautersMedical Intensive Care Unit, Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Hanne Moon LauwersMedical Intensive Care Unit, Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Els WautersDepartment of Respiratory Diseases, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Pierre CloseCancer Signaling, GIGA Stem Cells, Liège University, Liège, Belgium.
Francesca Orso *Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
Massimiliano Mazzone *Laboratory of Tumor Inflammation and Angiogenesis, Center for Cancer Biology, VIB, Leuven, Belgium. massimiliano.mazzone@vib-kuleuven.be.ORCID 0000-0001-8824-4015

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe progression to critical COVID-19 arises predominantly from a dysregulated host immune response although the underlying regulatory mechanisms still remain partially elusive. This limits a prompt prediction of the disease progression, reduces the therapeutic options and restrains our understanding of “long COVID”.

methodsHere, we analyzed the transcriptome of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from COVID-19 patients experiencing different degrees of the disease (mild and critical), and control patients enrolled in the clinical trial COntAGIouS as well as independent bulk RNA-seq, single-cell RNA-seq and proteomic datasets.

resultsIn critical COVID-19 patients, the integrative analysis of transcriptomic data revealed an altered regulatory network involving microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and coding genes that control mRNA translation-related genes, epigenetics, and metabolism. In parallel, we observed an upregulation of tRNA aminoacylation genes in critical COVID-19 patients by the analysis of either bulk or single-cell RNA-seq data from publicly available independent cohorts. Additionally, we found increased expression of coding genes enriched for the cognate amino acids (glycine, alanine, isoleucine and tyrosine), all related to protein localization, post-translational modifications, and cell metabolism in our cohort. Similar alterations in amino acid frequency were found in an independent proteomic dataset.

conclusionsCollectively, our findings indicate a broad perturbation of the gene expression landscape that characterizes the aberrant host immune response in critical COVID-19 patients and is potentially coordinated by miRNA and tRNA metabolism alterations.

trial registrationCOntAGIouS, NCT04327570. Registered 26 March 2020, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04327570 .

Indexed as

COVID-19Epigenesis, GeneticLeukocytes, MononuclearTranscriptomeFemaleHumansMicroRNAsPandemicsProteomicsRNA, Long NoncodingRNA, TransferSARS-CoV-2Sequence Analysis, RNASingle-Cell Gene Expression AnalysisMicroRNAsRNA, Long NoncodingRNA, TransferEpigeneticsImmune responsesMetabolic analysismiRNASARS coronavirustRNA

Identifiers

PMID41566340
PMCPMC12908402

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.