Abstract:
The progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), resulting from a severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, may be influenced by both
genetic and environmental factors. Several viruses hijack the host genome machinery for
their own advantage and survival, and similar phenomena might occur upon SARS-CoV-2
infection. Severe cases of COVID-19 may be driven by metabolic and epigenetic driven
mechanisms, including DNA methylation and histone/chromatin alterations. These
epigenetic phenomena may respond to enhanced viral replication and mediate persistent
long-term infection and clinical phenotypes associated with severe COVID-19 cases and
fatalities. Understanding the epigenetic events involved, and their clinical significance, may
provide novel insights valuable for the therapeutic control and management of the COVID-
19 pandemic. This review highlights different epigenetic marks potentially associated with
COVID-19 development, clinical manifestation, and progression.
