Identification of six genes associated with COVID-19-related Circadian rhythm dysfunction by integrated bioinformatic analysis

Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) might cause long-term burden of insomnia, while the common pathogenic mechanisms are not elucidated. The gene expression profiles of COVID-19 patients and healthy controls were retrieved from the GEO database, while gene set related with circadian rhythm were obtained from Genecards database. 76 shared genes were screened and mainly enriched in cell cycle, cell division and cell proliferation, and 6 hub genes were found out including CCNA2, CCNB1, CDK1, CHEK1, MKI67 and TOP2A, with positive correlation to plasma cells. In the TF-gene regulatory network, NFYA, NFIC, MEF2A and FOXC1 showed high connectivity with hub genes. This study identified six hub genes and might provide new insights into pathogenic mechanisms and novel clinical management strategies.