AUTHOR=Seong Hye , Kim Jun Hyoung , Han Young-Hee , Seo Ho Seong , Hyun Hak Jun , Yoon Jin Gu , Nham Eliel , Noh Ji Yun , Cheong Hee Jin , Kim Woo Joo , Lim Sooyeon , Song Joon Young
TITLE=Clinical implications of gut microbiota and cytokine responses in coronavirus disease prognosis
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology
VOLUME=14
YEAR=2023
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1079277
DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2023.1079277
ISSN=1664-3224
ABSTRACT=ObjectivesSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects gut luminal cells through the angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptor and disrupts the gut microbiome. We investigated whether the gut microbiome in the early stage of SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with the prognosis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
MethodsThirty COVID-19 patients and 16 healthy controls were prospectively enrolled. Blood and stool samples and clinical details were collected on days 0 (enrollment), 7, 14, and 28. Participants were categorized into four groups by their clinical course.
ResultsGut microbiota composition varied during the clinical course of COVID-19 and was closely associated with cytokine levels (p=0.003). A high abundance of the genus Dialister (linear discriminant analysis [LDA] effect size: 3.97856, p=0.004), species Peptoniphilus lacrimalis (LDA effect size: 4.00551, p=0.020), and Anaerococcus prevotii (LDA effect size: 4.00885, p=0.007) was associated with a good prognosis. Starch, sucrose, and galactose metabolism was highly activated in the gut microbiota of the poor prognosis group. Glucose-lowering diets, including whole grains, were positively correlated with a good prognosis.
ConclusionGut microbiota may mediate the prognosis of COVID-19 by regulating cytokine responses and controlling glucose metabolism, which is implicated in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2.