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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.09.30.321059

Transcriptional differences for COVID-19 Disease Map genes between males and females indicate a different basal immunophenotype relevant to the disease

Liu, T.·Balzano-Nogueira, L.·Lleo, A.·Conesa, A.
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Abstract

Worldwide COVID-19 epidemiology data indicate clear differences in disease incidence among sex and age groups. Specifically, male patients are at a higher death risk than females. However, whether this difference is the consequence of a pre-existing sex-bias in immune genes or a differential response to the virus has not been studied yet. We created DeCovid, an R shiny app that combines gene expression data of different human tissue from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project and the COVID-19 Disease Map gene collection to explore basal gene expression differences across healthy demographic groups. We used this app to study differential gene expression between men and women for COVID-19 associated genes. We identified that healthy women present higher levels in the expression of interferon genes and the JAK-STAT pathway leading to cell survival.

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Liu, T., Balzano-Nogueira, L., Lleo, A., Conesa, A.. 2020-10-01. Transcriptional differences for COVID-19 Disease Map genes between males and females indicate a different basal immunophenotype relevant to the disease. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.30.321059

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