Health Sci Rep . Gut microbiota and COVID-19: A systematic review

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Health Sci Rep


. 2023 Jan 27;6(2):e1080.
doi: 10.1002/hsr2.1080. eCollection 2023 Feb.
Gut microbiota and COVID-19: A systematic review


SeyedAhmad SeyedAlinaghi ¹ , Arian Afzalian ² , Zahra Pashaei ¹ , Sanaz Varshochi ² , Amirali Karimi ² , Hengameh Mojdeganlou ³ , Paniz Mojdeganlou ⁴ , Armin Razi ² , Farzaneh Ghanadinezhad ⁵ , Alireza Shojaei ¹ , Ava Amiri ¹ , Mohsen Dashti ⁶ , Afsaneh Ghasemzadeh ⁶ , Omid Dadras ^{1 7} , Esmaeil Mehraeen ⁸ , Amir Masoud Afsahi ⁹



Affiliations

• PMID: 36721396
• PMCID: PMC9881458
• DOI: 10.1002/hsr2.1080

Abstract

Background and aims: Alteration in humans' gut microbiota was reported in patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The gut and upper respiratory tract (URT) microbiota harbor a dynamic and complex population of microorganisms and have strong interaction with host immune system homeostasis. However, our knowledge about microbiota and its association with SARS-CoV-2 is still limited. We aimed to systematically review the effects of gut microbiota on the SARS-CoV-2 infection and its severity and the impact that SARS-CoV-2 could have on the gut microbiota.
Methods: We searched the keywords in the online databases of Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Cochrane on December 31, 2021. After duplicate removal, we performed the screening process in two stages; title/abstract and then full-text screening. The data of the eligible studies were extracted into a pre-designed word table. This study adhered to the PRISMA checklist and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale Bias Assessment tool.
Results: Sixty-three publications were included in this review. Our study shows that among COVID-19 patients, particularly moderate to severe cases, the gut and lung microbiota was different compared to healthy individuals. In addition, the severity, and viral load of COVID-19 disease would probably also be influenced by the gut, and lung microbiota's composition.
Conclusion: Our study concludes that there was a significant difference in the composition of the URT, and gut microbiota in COVID-19 patients compared to the general healthy individuals, with an increase in opportunistic pathogens. Further, research is needed to investigate the probable bidirectional association of COVID-19 and human microbiome.

Keywords: COVID‐19; SARS‐CoV‐2; gut microbiota; microbiome; microbiota; probiotics.