The human oral and gut commensal microbes play vital roles in the development and maintenance of immune homeostasis, while its association with susceptibility and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection is barely understood. In this study, we investigated the dynamics of the oral and intestinal flora before and after the clearance of SARS-CoV-2 in 53 COVID-19 patients, and then examined their microbiome alterations in comparison to 76 healthy individuals. A total of 140 throat swab samples and 81 fecal samples from these COVID-19 patients during hospitalization, and 44 throat swab samples and 32 fecal samples from sex and age-matched healthy individuals were collected and then subjected to 16S rRNA sequencing and viral load inspection. We found that SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with alterations of the microbiome community in patients as indicated by both alpha and beta diversity indexes. Several bacterial taxa were identified related to SARS-CoV-2 infection, wherein elevated Granulicatella and Rothia mucilaginosa were found in both oral and gut microbiome. The SARS-CoV-2 viral load in those samples was also calculated to identify potential dynamics between COVID-19 and the microbiome. These findings provide a meaningful baseline for microbes in the digestive tract of COVID-19 patients and will shed light on new dimensions for disease pathophysiology, potential microbial biomarkers, and treatment strategies for COVID-19.
【저자키워드】 clinical microbiology, Microbiome, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Biomarkers, Hospitalization, SARS-COV-2 infection, susceptibility, severity, Sequencing, Sex, 16S rRNA, Viral load, pathophysiology, Patient, Fecal sample, Microbiome, Immune homeostasis, Community, Alpha, disease, COVID-19 patients, rRNA, Bacterial, association, microbe, treatment strategy, COVID-19 patient, Gut, microbial, maintenance, digestive tract, Treatment strategies, healthy individuals, alteration, SARS-CoV-2 viral load, throat swab, fecal samples, vital roles, clearance, microbes, intestinal flora, dimension, identify, collected, examined, indicated, investigated, elevated, calculated, healthy individual, baseline, clearance of SARS-CoV-2, vital role, 【제목키워드】 Hospitalization, gut microbiota, association, COVID-19 patient, Altered,