Chonnam Med J.  2022 Sep;58(3):96-101. 10.4068/cmj.2022.58.3.96.

COVID-19 and the Human Gut Microbiome: An Under-Recognized Association

Affiliations
  • 1Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, USA
  • 2Saint James School of Medicine, Anguilla, British West Indies, Nigeria
  • 3Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, Nigeria
  • 4Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

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. 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.

Keyword

Microbiota; Gastrointestinal Disease; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2
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