BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging serious global health problem. Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in COVID-19 patients, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA has been detected in stool specimens. However, the relationship between the gut microbiome and disease remains to be established. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 30 patients with COVID-19, 24 patients with influenza A(H1N1), and 30 matched healthy controls (HCs) to identify differences in the gut microbiota by 16S ribosomal RNA gene V3-V4 region sequencing. RESULTS: Compared with HCs, COVID-19 patients had significantly reduced bacterial diversity; a significantly higher relative abundance of opportunistic pathogens, such as Streptococcus, Rothia, Veillonella, and Actinomyces; and a lower relative abundance of beneficial symbionts. Five biomarkers showed high accuracy for distinguishing COVID-19 patients from HCs with an area under the curve (AUC) up to 0.89. Patients with H1N1 displayed lower diversity and different overall microbial composition compared with COVID-19 patients. Seven biomarkers were selected to distinguish the 2 cohorts (AUC = 0.94). CONCLUSIONS: The gut microbial signature of patients with COVID-19 was different from that of H1N1 patients and HCs. Our study suggests the potential value of the gut microbiota as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for COVID-19, but further validation is needed.
BACKGROUND:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging serious global health problem. Gastrointestinal symptoms are common in COVID-19patients, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 RNA has been detected in stool specimens. However, the relationship between the gut microbiome and disease remains to be established. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 30 patients with COVID-19, 24 patients with influenza A(H1N1), and 30 matched healthy controls (HCs) to identify differences in the gut microbiota by 16S ribosomal RNA gene V3-V4 region sequencing. RESULTS: Compared with HCs, COVID-19patients had significantly reduced bacterial diversity; a significantly higher relative abundance of opportunistic pathogens, such as Streptococcus, Rothia, Veillonella, and Actinomyces; and a lower relative abundance of beneficial symbionts. Five biomarkers showed high accuracy for distinguishing COVID-19patients from HCs with an area under the curve (AUC) up to 0.89. Patients with H1N1 displayed lower diversity and different overall microbial composition compared with COVID-19patients. Seven biomarkers were selected to distinguish the 2 cohorts (AUC = 0.94). CONCLUSIONS: The gut microbial signature of patients with COVID-19 was different from that of H1N1patients and HCs. Our study suggests the potential value of the gut microbiota as a diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for COVID-19, but further validation is needed.
Authors: Ravindra K Sharma; Bruce R Stevens; Alexander G Obukhov; Maria B Grant; Gavin Y Oudit; Qiuhong Li; Elaine M Richards; Carl J Pepine; Mohan K Raizada Journal: Hypertension Date: 2020-08-12 Impact factor: 10.190
Authors: Vicente Javier Clemente-Suárez; Domingo Jesús Ramos-Campo; Juan Mielgo-Ayuso; Athanasios A Dalamitros; Pantelis A Nikolaidis; Alberto Hormeño-Holgado; Jose Francisco Tornero-Aguilera Journal: Nutrients Date: 2021-06-03 Impact factor: 5.717