Covid-19 Infection During Pregnancy Induces Differential Gene Expression in Human Cord Blood Cells from Term Neonates

Exposure to COVID-19 during pregnancy induces differential gene expression in cord blood cells. The early exposure and associated differentially expressed genes may potentially contribute to cardiac, hepatic, renal and immunological disorders in offspring. These findings lead to a further understanding of the effects of COVID-19 exposure at an early stage of life and its potential long-term consequences as well as therapeutic targets. We have used microarray to find the global gene expression of Covid exposed cord blood compared to control samples Global Gene expression was compared between Covid exposed and control term neonates. The umbilical cord blood was collected in PAXgene blood RNA tube. Cord blood was collected from mothers with (8 Covid sample) or without (8 control) Covid exposure during or at the time of delivery. Total RNA was isolated using PAXgene Blood RNA Kit from PreAnalytiX and then fragmented biotin-labeled cDNA was prepared by GeneChip WT PLUS reagent kit. Genome-wide gene expression screening was performed using Human Clariom S gene chips. The COVID group was compared with the control group using Transcriptome array console software 4.0. Sst-RMA normalization was performed and Student’s t-test was employed for comparison of the two groups. Genes with fold change ≥ 1.5 and p ≤ 0.05 were identified as differentially expressed.