Author:
Shilts Meghan H.,Rosas-Salazar Christian,Strickland Britton A.,Kimura Kyle S.,Asad Mohammad,Sehanobish Esha,Freeman Michael H.,Wessinger Bronson C.,Gupta Veerain,Brown Hunter M.,Boone Helen H.,Patel Viraj,Barbi Mali,Bottalico Danielle,O’Neill Meaghan,Akbar Nadeem,Rajagopala Seesandra V.,Mallal Simon,Phillips Elizabeth,Turner Justin H.,Jerschow Elina,Das Suman R.
Abstract
BackgroundThe upper respiratory tract (URT) is the portal of entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and SARS-CoV-2 likely interacts with the URT microbiome. However, understanding of the associations between the URT microbiome and the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still limited.ObjectiveOur primary objective was to identify URT microbiome signature/s that consistently changed over a spectrum of COVID-19 severity.MethodsUsing data from 103 adult participants from two cities in the United States, we compared the bacterial load and the URT microbiome between five groups: 20 asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-negative participants, 27 participants with mild COVID-19, 28 participants with moderate COVID-19, 15 hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19, and 13 hospitalized patients in the ICU with very severe COVID-19.ResultsURT bacterial load, bacterial richness, and within-group microbiome composition dissimilarity consistently increased as COVID-19 severity increased, while the relative abundance of an amplicon sequence variant (ASV), Corynebacterium_unclassified.ASV0002, consistently decreased as COVID-19 severity increased.ConclusionsWe observed that the URT microbiome composition significantly changed as COVID-19 severity increased. The URT microbiome could potentially predict which patients may be more likely to progress to severe disease or be modified to decrease severity. However, further research in additional longitudinal cohorts is needed to better understand how the microbiome affects COVID-19 severity.
Funder
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Microbiology (medical),Immunology,Microbiology
Cited by
26 articles.
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