REVIEW article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Intestinal Microbiome
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1537456
This article is part of the Research Topic Human Microbiome and COVID-19 View all 7 articles
Microbiome Dysbiosis in SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Implication for Pathophysiology and Management Strategies of COVID-19
Provisionally accepted
Shukur Wasman Smail 1 Niaz Albarzinji 2 Rebaz Hamza Salih 3 Kalthum Othman Taha 1 Sarah Hirmiz 1 Hero M. Ismael 1 Marwa Fateh Noori 4 Sarkar Sardar Azeez 5 Christer Jansson 6*- 1 Salahaddin University, Erbil, Iraq
- 2 College of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq
- 3 PAR Private Hospital, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, Erbil, Iraq
- 4 Cihan University-Erbil, Erbil, Iraq
- 5 Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil, Iraq
- 6 Uppsala University, Uppsala, Uppsala, Sweden
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The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiological agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in late 2019 initiated a global health crisis marked by widespread infection, significant mortality, and long-term health implications. While SARS-CoV-2 primarily targets the respiratory system, recent findings indicate that it also significantly disrupts the human microbiome, particularly the gut microbiota, contributing to disease severity, systemic inflammation, immune dysregulation, and increased susceptibility to secondary infections and chronic conditions. Dysbiosis, or microbial imbalance, exacerbates the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 and has been linked to long-COVID, a condition affecting a significant proportion of survivors and manifesting with over 200 symptoms across multiple organ systems.Despite the growing recognition of microbiome alterations in COVID-19, the precise mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 interacts with the microbiome and influences disease progression remain poorly understood. This narrative review investigates the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on hostmicrobiota dynamics and evaluates its implications in disease severity and for developing personalized therapeutic strategies for COVID-19. Furthermore, it highlights the dual role of the microbiome in modulating disease progression, and as a promising target for advancing diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic approaches in managing COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Gut Microbiota, Dysbiosis, prognosis, diagnosis, Therapeutics
Received: 30 Nov 2024; Accepted: 27 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Smail, Albarzinji, Salih, Taha, Hirmiz, Ismael, Noori, Azeez and Jansson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Christer Jansson, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 753 12, Uppsala, Sweden
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
