The mutual relationship between COVID-19 and gut microbiota

Abstract

Abstract – There is increasing evidence that the gut microbiota can have a mutual relationship with Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19). COVID-19 can influence our gut microbiota, not only through direct action of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but also due to environmental and iatrogenic factors, including antibiotics or hospitalization. On the other hand, the gut microbiota may have an important influence on the host response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, and its composition may be a marker of disease course, associated with disease severity, paving the way to new potential therapeutic strategies, such as probiotic supplementation or fecal microbiota transplantation, to manage the infection. In this review, we will summarize the latest evidence of the complex relationship between human gut microbiota and COVID-19.

Keywords

• covid19
• gut microbiota
• microbiota
• intestinal homeostasis
• fecal microbiota transplantation.