Abstract
Several follow-up studies have found that COVID-19 (coronavirus
disease 2019) patients had persistent symptoms after
discharge. Gut microbiota play an important role in human
health and immune responses. Therefore, this study investigated
the gut microbiota of recovered COVID-19 patients
and the correlations between gut microbiota and persistent
symptoms after discharge. Stool samples were collected from
15 recovered healthcare workers (HCWs) with COVID-19
at three months after discharge, in addition, stool samples
were collected from 14 healthy controls (HCs) to perform 16S
rRNA gene sequencing between May and July 2020. Compared
with HCs, recovered HCWs had reduced bacterial diversity
at three months after discharge, with a significantly
higher relative abundance of opportunistic pathogens, and
a significantly lower relative abundance of beneficial bacteria.
In addition, Escherichia unclassified was positively correlated
with persistent symptoms at three months after discharge,
including fatigue (r = 0.567, p = 0.028), chest tightness after
activity (r = 0.687, p = 0.005), and myalgia (r = 0.523, p = 0.045).
Intestinibacter bartlettii was positively correlated with anorexia
(r = 0.629, p = 0.012) and fatigue (r = 0.545, p = 0.036).
However, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii was negatively correlated
with chest tightness after activity (r = -0.591, p = 0.02),
and Intestinimonas butyriciproducens was negatively correlated
with cough (r = -0.635, p = 0.011). In conclusion, the gut
microbiota of recovered HCWs with COVID-19 at three months
after discharge was different from that of HCs, and altered
gut microbiota was correlated with persistent symptoms after
discharge, highlighting that gut microbiota may play an important
role in the recovery of patients with COVID-19.
Citations
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