11th Conference of the European Society of Endocrine Surgeons (ESES) in Izmir, 22-24 May 2025 Conference Abstracts

초록

Background Through the COVID-19 pandemic, much research is conducted about the effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the human body. However, little research was carried out on the genomic impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on thyroid gland. The aim of our study was to find the DNA methylation change in thyroid tissues after recent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods In our center, normal and thyroid cancer tissue were immediately collected after surgery and stored in liquid-nitrogen according to standardized biobank protocol. Tissues collected before pandemic was considered "Control" and underwent surgery within 2 months from SARS-CoV-2 infection was used "Test" group. DNA methylation array performed from normal and PTC tissue, selected three patients in "Control" and three patients in "Test" group. Results DNA methylation pattern was well classified only in PTC tissue, between "Control" and "Test" group. The numbers of differentially methylated probes (DMP) were higher in the PTC group (6848 versus 140). CpG island methylation in up-stream from exonic area associated with hypermethylation of RNA polymerase II regulation genes, including tumour suppressor genes (BRCA1, RUNX3), whereas hypomethylation in genes with RAS protein signal transduction (HRAS, RASSF1) and Notch signal pathway (CTBP1, LFNG, NOTCH3). Conclusion Hypermethylation of tumour suppressors and hypomethylation of oncogenic pathway genes were identified in PTC tissues from patients who had recently been infected with SARS-CoV-2. It suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection in PTC may be associated with progression of thyroid cancer using the DNA methylation mechanism. However, further validation studies are needed to support this initial finding from methylation array.