Gut Microbes (Jan 2021)

Microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acids do not interfere with SARS-CoV-2 infection of human colonic samples

  • Lívia Bitencourt Pascoal,
  • Patrícia Brito Rodrigues,
  • Lívia Moreira Genaro,
  • Arilson Bernardo dos Santos Pereira Gomes,
  • Daniel Augusto Toledo-Teixeira,
  • Pierina Lorencini Parise,
  • Karina Bispo-Dos-Santos,
  • Camila Lopes Simeoni,
  • Paula Veri Guimarães,
  • Lucas Ildefonso Buscaratti,
  • João Gabriel De Angeli Elston,
  • Henrique Marques-Souza,
  • Daniel Martins-de-Souza,
  • Maria De Lourdes Setsuko Ayrizono,
  • Lício Augusto Velloso,
  • José Luiz Proenca-Modena,
  • Pedro Manoel Mendes Moraes-Vieira,
  • Marcelo Alves Silva Mori,
  • Alessandro Santos Farias,
  • Marco Aurélio Ramirez Vinolo,
  • Raquel Franco Leal

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2021.1874740
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

Read online

Microbiota-derived molecules called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) play a key role in the maintenance of the intestinal barrier and regulation of immune response during infectious conditions. Recent reports indicate that SARS-CoV-2 infection changes microbiota and SCFAs production. However, the relevance of this effect is unknown. In this study, we used human intestinal biopsies and intestinal epithelial cells to investigate the impact of SCFAs in the infection by SARS-CoV-2. SCFAs did not change the entry or replication of SARS-CoV-2 in intestinal cells. These metabolites had no effect on intestinal cells’ permeability and presented only minor effects on the production of anti-viral and inflammatory mediators. Together our findings indicate that the changes in microbiota composition of patients with COVID-19 and, particularly, of SCFAs do not interfere with the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the intestine.

Keywords