Metagenomic assessment of gut microbial communities and risk of severe COVID-19.
Long H NguyenDaniel OkinDavid A DrewVincent M BattistaSirus J JesudasenThomas M KuntzAmrisha BhosleKelsey N ThompsonTrenton ReinickeChun-Han LoJacqueline E WooAlexander CaraballoLorenzo BerraJacob VieiraChing-Ying HuangUpasana Das AdhikariMinsik KimHui-Yu SuiMarina Magicheva-GuptaLauren McIverMarcia B GoldbergDouglas S KwonCurtis HuttenhowerAndrew T ChanPeggy S LaiPublished in: Genome medicine (2023)
Here, we show that the gut microbiome differentiates individuals with a more severe disease course after infection with COVID-19 and offer several tractable and biologically plausible mechanisms through which gut microbial communities may influence COVID-19 disease course. Further studies are needed to expand upon these observations to better leverage the gut microbiome as a potential biomarker for disease severity and as a target for therapeutic intervention.