ANALYSIS BY MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF THE ANALOGIES BETWEEN CANCER EPIGENETIC ALTERATIONS INDUCED BY HEAVY METALS AND THOSE BY COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Objective: Here we propose a retrospective study on 319 subjects already investigated for a correlation between polymorphisms and intoxication by heavy metals, which, in some cases, lead to possible cancer alterations, in order to identify, through mathematical model, the analogies between heavy metals-induced epigenetic alterations and those caused by COVID-19. Patients and Methods: A total of 319 patients, 182 males and 137 females with a median age of 44 for the former and 31 for the latter, have been studied between 2016 and 2019 by performing a hair mineralometry, analyzed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, and buccal swab followed by DNA extraction. Different polymorphisms have been investigated to find any correlations with heavy metals intoxication. Results: We found a correlation between some of the genotyped polymorphisms and altered levels of heavy metals in 86% of exanimated cases. According to estimates of our mathematical models, the described genetic susceptibilities could raise up the risk of contagion for COVID-19. Conclusions: The carriers of the above polymorphisms are probably more at risk of accumulating toxic metals, thereby, contracting severe oxidative damage. The mathematical model herein applied suggested us COVID-19 could use the same mechanism described for toxic metals. If these preliminary data will be confirmed, we suggest genetic screening as optimum solution to identify both cancer risk subjects and those highly exposed to virus contagion.