ArticleBMC medicine2022
Gut microbiome alterations and gut barrier dysfunction are associated with host immune homeostasis in COVID-19 patients.
Article in BMC medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 104 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
104 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 173 citations in OpenAlex.
- COVID-19 alters human microbiomes: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of 16S rRNA microbial data identified alterations of the gut microbiota in COVID-19 patients during the acute and recovery phases.BMC microbiology · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Probiotics and Bacteriocins Against SARS-CoV-2: Therapeutic Frontiers and Mechanistic Insights.Probiotics and antimicrobial proteins · 2026Review
- Early-life immune imprinting by a B. infantis-HMO synbiotic shapes infant immune signatures and protects against experimental respiratory disease.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- Association between clinical symptoms and time to pharyngeal PCR negativity among mild omicron COVID-19 patients: a retrospective study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Metagenomic profiling of gut microbiome in post-cholecystectomy patients with diarrhea: a nested case-control study.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Healthful plant-based diet, gut enterotype, and cognition in a rural Chinese elderly cohort: A longitudinal multi-omics study.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Article
- The common pathological network of inflammation, extracellular matrix imbalance, and senescence in intervertebral disc degeneration and osteoarthritis.Molecular biology reports · 2026Review
- Virulence attenuation of intestinal pathogenicity via combined gene deletion in duck enteritis vaccine strain restores gut microbiota balance and enhances safety.Poultry science · 2026Article
- Microbiome-Metabolome Crosstalk as a Driver of COVID-19 Severity.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Persistence and the Gut Microbiota: New Insights into Long COVID Pathogenesis.Viruses · 2026Review
- Gut microbiome-based strategies for HIV prevention and therapy, current challenges and future prospects.Gut pathogens · 2026Review
- Article
- Integrative metagenomics and metabolomics reveal age-associated gut microbiota and metabolite alterations in a hamster model of COVID-19.Gut microbes · 2025Article
- Examine the Impact of Self-Medicated Antibiotics on Gut Bacterial Diversity From COVID-19 Patients in Gopalganj, Bangladesh.MicrobiologyOpen · 2025Article
- Neuropsychiatric- and cognitive post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection - evidence from K18-hACE C57BL/6 J mice.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2025Article
- Gut microbiome and viral infections: A hidden nexus for immune protection.World journal of virology · 2025Review
- Ozone water enema activates SIRT1-Nrf2/HO-1 pathway to ameliorate gut dysbiosis in mice receiving COVID-19 patient-derived faecal microbiota.Journal of medical microbiology · 2025Article
- Altered Gut Microbiota and Predicted Immune Dysregulation in Early Childhood SARS-CoV-2 Infection.Microorganisms · 2025Article
44 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
19 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCOVID-19 is an infectious disease characterized by multiple respiratory and extrapulmonary manifestations, including gastrointestinal symptoms. Although recent studies have linked gut microbiota to infectious diseases such as influenza, little is known about the role of the gut microbiota in COVID-19 pathophysiology.
methodsTo better understand the host-gut microbiota interactions in COVID-19, we characterized the gut microbial community and gut barrier function using metagenomic and metaproteomic approaches in 63 COVID-19 patients and 8 non-infected controls. Both immunohematological parameters and transcriptional profiles were measured to reflect the immune response in COVID-19 patients.
resultsAltered gut microbial composition was observed in COVID-19 patients, which was characterized by decreased commensal species and increased opportunistic pathogenic species. Severe illness was associated with higher abundance of four microbial species (i.e., Burkholderia contaminans, Bacteroides nordii, Bifidobacterium longum, and Blautia sp. CAG 257), six microbial pathways (e.g., glycolysis and fermentation), and 10 virulence genes. These severity-related microbial features were further associated with host immune response. For example, the abundance of Bu. contaminans was associated with higher levels of inflammation biomarkers and lower levels of immune cells. Furthermore, human-origin proteins identified from both blood and fecal samples suggested gut barrier dysfunction in COVID-19 patients. The circulating levels of lipopolysaccharide-binding protein increased in patients with severe illness and were associated with circulating inflammation biomarkers and immune cells. Besides, proteins of disease-related bacteria (e.g., B. longum) were detectable in blood samples from patients.
conclusionsOur results suggest that the dysbiosis of the gut microbiome and the dysfunction of the gut barrier might play a role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19 by affecting host immune homeostasis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.