Bioinformatics and System Biology Approach to Identifying the Influence of COVID-19 on Patients with Osteoarthritis

Background Clinical findings show that the incidence of osteoarthritis (OA) is significantly increased in the late stage of coronavirus disease 2019 in southwest China. However, there continues to be a lack of substantial evidence elucidating the potential molecular mechanism underlying OA and COVID-19. Objective The objective of this study is to clarify the genetic interaction between OA and COVID-19 and to explore the therapeutic targets for COVID-19-infected patients with OA. Methods Two differentially expressed gene (DEG) sets extracted from the GSE171110 and GSE55235 datasets were intersected to generate common DEGs, which were used for functional enrichment, hub gene and pathway identification, and candidate drug-gene and disease–gene prediction. Associations between hub genes and immune cell infiltration were also generated to increase the clinical relevance. Results A total of 127 DEGs were screened from the COVID-19 and OA datasets. Functional enrichment analysis demonstrated that the common pathways activated in both diseases were mainly concentrated in the circadian rhythm, cellular response to chemical stimulus, B cell signaling pathway, and response to organic substances. The TF and miRNA analyses identified 14 TFs and 2 genes (CDK1 and TOP2A) as final hub genes. Furthermore, 28 possible drugs targeting these 2 hub genes and 9 relevant tumor diseases were predicted for the treatment of COVID-19-infected patients with OA. CDK1 and TOP2A were successfully identified as hub genes that can serve as novel therapeutic targets for patients with COVID-19. We also screened out 28 potential drugs and 9 diseases valuable for the treatment of OA after COVID-19 infection. Conclusion CDK1 and TOP2A were successfully identified as hub genes that can serve as markers of novel targeted therapy for patients with OA after COVID-19 infection. Additionally, 1 immune cell (resting mast cells), 9 tumor diseases, and 28 potential drugs were identified for the potential therapeutic treatment of OA after COVID-19 infection.