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Do an Altered Gut Microbiota and an Associated Leaky Gut Affect COVID-19 Severity?
1Division of Biosystems & Biomedical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea hstanleykim@korea.ac.kr.
Insights
Altered gut microbiota and leaky gut may contribute to severe COVID-19 outcomes. This may cause gastrointestinal symptoms and multiorgan complications by allowing the virus into circulation.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Immunology
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity varies globally and individually.
- Elderliness and chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and obesity are linked to severe COVID-19.
- These factors are often associated with altered gut microbiota and disrupted gut barrier integrity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the hypothesis that gut dysfunction influences COVID-19 severity.
- To summarize evidence linking gut microbiota alterations and leaky gut to COVID-19 complications.
Main Methods:
- Review of accumulating scientific evidence.
- Analysis of the relationship between gut microbiota, gut barrier function, and COVID-19 severity.
Main Results:
- Gut microbiota alterations and leaky gut are associated with gastrointestinal symptoms in COVID-19 patients.
- These gut dysfunctions may contribute to severe illness and multiorgan complications.
- Leakage of the virus into the circulatory system via a compromised gut barrier is a potential mechanism.
Conclusions:
- Gut dysfunction, characterized by altered microbiota and leaky gut, may play a significant role in COVID-19 pathogenesis.
- Targeting gut health could be a potential strategy for managing severe COVID-19.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the precise mechanisms linking gut health to COVID-19 outcomes.
Abstract:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which has been declared a pandemic, has exhibited a wide range of severity worldwide. Although this global variation is largely affected by socio-medical situations in each country, there is also high individual-level variation attributable to elderliness and certain underlying medical conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. As both elderliness and the aforementioned chronic conditions are often associated with an altered gut microbiota, resulting in disrupted gut barrier integrity, and gut symptoms have consistently been associated with more severe illness in COVID-19 patients, it is possible that dysfunction of the gut as a whole influences COVID-19 severity. This article summarizes the accumulating evidence that supports the hypothesis that an altered gut microbiota and its associated leaky gut may contribute to the onset of gastrointestinal symptoms and occasionally to additional multiorgan complications that may lead to severe illness by allowing leakage of the causative coronavirus into the circulatory system.
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