Exploration of the Shared Molecular Mechanisms between COVID-19 and Neurodegenerative Diseases through Bioinformatic Analysis

The study aimed to explore shared molecular mechanisms between COVID-19 and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's disease [AD] and Parkinson's disease [PD]) using a bioinformatic approach. Researchers analyzed three public transcriptomic datasets from the GEO database, representing frontal cortex tissue from patients with COVID-19, AD, and PD. Through differential expression analysis, intersection analysis, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction, they identified common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and hub genes. The key finding was the identification of 52 common DEGs, most of which were downregulated. These genes were significantly enriched in the synaptic vesicle cycle pathway. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) also indicated that synaptic function was downregulated in all three conditions. Furthermore, the study identified candidate drugs (e.g., Ibutilide fumarate, Dotarizine, Azelnidipine, Copper, Artenimol) from the DrugBank database that may target these shared pathways. Limitations include the reliance on computational analysis of publicly available transcriptomic data, which may have biases from different platforms and methods, and the small sample size of the datasets used. The study is preclinical and computational; the findings suggest potential shared pathogenesis involving synaptic dysfunction but do not establish causality or direct human clinical outcomes.