Researchers have shown, over the past two years, that certain microbial populations are associated with COVID-19 severity. However, other impacts of the microbiome on COVID-19—including causal ones—have remained unknown. Now, a study provides important new information regarding the relationship between the two.
First, researchers used a mouse model to show that SARS-CoV-2 alone causes gut microbiome dysbiosis (disruptions) and gut epithelial cell alterations. In addition, the team analyzed human stool samples from patients at NYU Langone Health and Yale New Haven Hospital. In doing so, they found results similar to what they had observed in mice: COVID-19 is associated with severe microbiome injury characterized by loss of diversity and anaerobe taxa. Lastly, through sequencing data from the stool samples and blood cultures, they found that gut dysbiosis in COVID-19 patients is associated with secondary bloodstream infections by gut bacteria.
