The gut microbiome & SARS-COV-2 Anthology Series
A collection of works examining the effects of a SARS-COV-2 infection on gut dysbiosis and possible ARDS.
Cover image from US News
What started off as a general look into the microbiome eventually led to a look into the dynamics between a viral infection and alterations with microbiome homeostasis.
In particular, the collection of posts took a look at how SARS-COV2 may contribute to some cases of ARDS in severe COVID patients.
Here, a collection of these posts are included to provide an overarching illustration of the microbiome’s role in severe disease, and helps explain why our microbiome is far more critical to our overall health that originally thought.
The Bursting of the Sterility Bubble
Humans aren’t meant to be sterile. Many of the policies and practices that were undertaken during the pandemic, unfortunately, may have caused serious harm to our microbiome as external sources of beneficial microbes became limited, either due to constant cleaning or due to masking that may have prevented outdoor exposure to microbes. This is paired with extremely poor eating and lack of nutrient-dense foods, which are necessary to maintain gut health. Thus, it’s possible that many people are dealing with gut dysbiosis and overall poorer health due to practices that were assumed to have “helped”.
Viral infections, the microbiome, and secondary bacterial infections
Like with many things in life actions tend not to be isolated. Rather, there are many interconnecting dynamics at play in life, including the effects of viral infections on microbiome health, as well as secondary infections from bacteria.
This effect is greatly influenced by what’s called the gut-lung axis, in which communication between these two organ systems are driven by microbes and the release of various compounds that influence this axis.
Consequently, disturbance in one part of this axis is likely to influence the other. The following post looks at some of the available literature and suggests that the gut plays a bigger role in what happens in the lungs than we may think.
Bacterial translocation in sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)
ARDS can occur with respiratory infections, and evidence suggests that gut translocation may play a role in ARDS. In particular, one study from 2016 noted that bacteria from the gut were found in the lungs of some patients with ARDS, suggesting that movement of the bacteria due to increased endothelial permeability may play a critical role in severe respiratory infections. The consequences of this effect are elaborated in a separate post looking at SARS-COV2 and ARDS in particular.
Gut bacteria in the blood of COVID-hospitalized patients?
In following the previous post I looked at one study in particular, in which it was argued that gut dysbiosis in severe COVID patients may result in bacteremia. As bacteremia plays a role in ARDS this study would raise some suspicions as to whether gut bacteria may be translocated in COVID patients and result in the widespread ARDS seen.
Unfortunately, closer inspection of the study raised some concerns, in particular with the claim that bacteremia was documented among the COVID patients examined as some of the species may not have been derived from the gut themselves.
The following takes a look at the study in question, but follows with some concerns raised over these findings.
From infection to ARDS: the role of the gut microbiome in SARS-COV2
This post pieced together the information from prior posts, illustrating the possible series of events that take place starting from when someone first gets infected with SARS-COV2 all the way to ARDS from bacteremia and gut microbe translocation. The information is a working model that comes with many limitations, but hopefully pieces the information together in a workable manner.
The hospital/microbiome paradigm
Hospitals are one of the leading drivers of bacterial infections termed nosocomial infections. This raises questions as to whether the goings on in a hospital may further hurt patients, as widespread antibiotic use, invasive instruments, and mediocre nutrition may harm a patient’s microbiome and make room for more pathogenic bacteria and pathobionts to take hold. Much of this information is circumstantial, but it’s worth considering within the context of SARS-COV2 due to the possibility of bacteremia.
In regards to a healthy microbiome
Given the significance of the microbiome I thought it worth looking at some information to see what one can do to help maintain a healthy gut. Given the scope of the information the post was limited, taking a look specifically at the effects of the Western Diet on the gut and whether supplementation may provide some benefit.
Fecal Microbiota Transplants and Gut Dysbiosis
One growing treatment option for those with gastrointestinal problems is to have a fecal transplant. Fecal transplants have occurred in some form across the centuries, even at times where people were unaware of the fact that our bodies are colonized by microbes. Fecal transplants appear to have many benefits, although research and use of fecal transplants appear to be limited.
The following provides a broad look into how the procedure is done, as well as some benefits or limitations.
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