What is it about?
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease with a wide range of respiratory and extrapulmonary symptoms, as well as gastrointestinal symptoms. Despite recent research linking gut microbiota to infectious diseases like influenza, minimal information is known about the gut microbiota’s function in COVID-19 pathogenesis.
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Why is it important?
Studies suggest that dysbiosis of the gut microbiota and gut barrier dysfunction may play a role in COVID-19 pathogenesis by disrupting host immune homeostasis. Regardless of whether patients had taken medication or disease severity, the gut microbiota composition was significantly altered in COVID-19 patients compared to non-COVID-19 individuals. Several gut commensals with recognized immunomodulatory potential, such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Eubacterium rectale, and bifidobacteria, were underrepresented in patients and remained low in samples taken several weeks after disease resolution. Furthermore, even with disease resolution, dysbiosis in the gut microbiota may contribute to chronic symptoms, underscoring the need to learn more about how gut microbes play a role in inflammation and COVID-19
Perspectives
The gut microbiome plays a significant role in human health and disease, and it may also play a part in the COVID-19 infection’s interaction with the host. Microbiome research could aid in the understanding of the pandemic and provide insight into prevention and treatment options.
Dr Adekunle Sanyaolu
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: COVID-19 and the Human Gut Microbiome: An Under-Recognized Association, Chonnam Medical Journal, January 2022, Chonnam National University Medical School (KAMJE),
DOI: 10.4068/cmj.2022.58.3.96.
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