• Medientyp: E-Artikel
  • Titel: A Pro-Inflammatory Gut Microbiome Characterizes SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients and a Reduction in the Connectivity of an Anti-Inflammatory Bacterial Network Associates With Severe COVID-19
  • Beteiligte: Reinold, Johanna; Farahpour, Farnoush; Fehring, Christian; Dolff, Sebastian; Konik, Margarethe; Korth, Johannes; van Baal, Lukas; Hoffmann, Daniel; Buer, Jan; Witzke, Oliver; Westendorf, Astrid M.; Kehrmann, Jan
  • Erschienen: Frontiers Media SA, 2021
  • Erschienen in: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
  • Sprache: Nicht zu entscheiden
  • DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.747816
  • ISSN: 2235-2988
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  • Beschreibung: <jats:p>The gut microbiota contributes to maintaining human health and regulating immune responses. Severe COVID-19 illness is associated with a dysregulated pro-inflammatory immune response. The effect of SARS-CoV-2 on altering the gut microbiome and the relevance of the gut microbiome on COVID-19 severity needs to be clarified. In this prospective study, we analyzed the gut microbiome of 212 patients of a tertiary care hospital (117 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and 95 SARS-CoV-2 negative patients) using <jats:italic>16S rRNA</jats:italic> gene sequencing of the V3-V4 region. Inflammatory markers and immune cells were quantified from blood. The gut microbiome in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients was characterized by a lower bacterial richness and distinct differences in the gut microbiome composition, including an enrichment of the phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes and a decrease of Actinobacteria compared to SARS-CoV-2 negative patients. The relative abundance of several genera including <jats:italic>Bifidobacterium</jats:italic>, <jats:italic>Streptococcus</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Collinsella</jats:italic> was lower in SARS-CoV-2 positive patients while the abundance of <jats:italic>Bacteroides</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Enterobacteriaceae</jats:italic> was increased. Higher pro-inflammatory blood markers and a lower CD8<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> T cell number characterized patients with severe COVID-19 illness. The gut microbiome of patients with severe/critical COVID-19 exhibited a lower abundance of butyrate-producing genera <jats:italic>Faecalibacterium</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Roseburia</jats:italic> and a reduction in the connectivity of a distinct network of anti-inflammatory genera that was observed in patients with mild COVID-19 illness and in SARS-CoV-2 negative patients. Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome associated with a pro-inflammatory signature may contribute to the hyperinflammatory immune response characterizing severe COVID-19 illness.</jats:p>
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