Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37720222›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in immunology2023

Causal effects of the gut microbiome on COVID-19 susceptibility and severity: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Meng-Mei Zhong, Jia-Hao Xie, Yao Feng, Shao-Hui Zhang, Jiang-Nan Xia, Li Tan, Ning-Xin Chen, Xiao-Lin Su, Qian Zhang, Yun-Zhi Feng and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Meng-Mei ZhongDepartment of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Jia-Hao XieInstitute of Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (IAIR), Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track of Ministry of Education, School of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Yao FengDepartment of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Shao-Hui ZhangDepartment of Stomatology, Xiangyang Central Hospital, Xiangyang, Hubei, China.
Jiang-Nan XiaSchool of Architecture and Art, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Li TanDepartment of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Ning-Xin ChenDepartment of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Xiao-Lin SuDepartment of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Qian ZhangDepartment of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Yun-Zhi FengDepartment of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Yue GuoDepartment of Stomatology, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused a global pandemic, with potential severity. We aimed to investigate whether genetically predicted gut microbiome is associated with susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 risk. Methods: Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of two sets with different significance thresholds was carried out to infer the causal relationship between the gut microbiome and COVID-19. SNPs associated with the composition of the gut microbiome (n = 5,717,754) and with COVID-19 susceptibility (n = 14,328,058), COVID-19 severity (n = 11,707,239), and COVID-19 hospitalization (n = 12,018,444) from publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The random-effect inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was used to determine causality. Three more MR techniques-MR Egger, weighted median, and weighted mode-and a thorough sensitivity analysis were also used to confirm the findings. Results: IVW showed that 18 known microbial taxa were causally associated with COVID-19. Among them, six microbial taxa were causally associated with COVID-19 susceptibility; seven microbial taxa were causally associated with COVID-19 severity ; five microbial taxa were causally associated with COVID-19 hospitalization. Sensitivity analyses showed no evidence of pleiotropy or heterogeneity. Then, the predicted 37 species of the gut microbiome deserve further study. Conclusion: This study found that some microbial taxa were protective factors or risky factors for COVID-19, which may provide helpful biomarkers for asymptomatic diagnosis and potential therapeutic targets for COVID-19.

Indexed as

COVID-19Gastrointestinal MicrobiomeCausalityGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansMendelian Randomization AnalysisCOVID-19gut microbiomeMendelian randomizationseveritysusceptibility

Identifiers

PMID37720222
PMCPMC10502427

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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.