Exploring Heterogeneity of Fecal Microbiome in Long COVID Patients at 3 to 6 Months After Infection, 2025, Blankestijn et al

Exploring Heterogeneity of Fecal Microbiome in Long COVID Patients at 3 to 6 Months After Infection

Jelle M. Blankestijn, Nadia Baalbaki, Rosanne J. H. C. G. Beijers, Merel E. B. Cornelissen, W. Joost Wiersinga, Mahmoud I. Abdel-Aziz, Anke H. Maitland-van der Zee

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Abstract
An estimated 10% of COVID-19 survivors have been reported to suffer from complaints after at least three months. The intestinal microbiome has been shown to impact long COVID through the gut–lung axis and impact the severity. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the gut microbiome and clinical characteristics, exploring microbiome heterogeneity through clustering.

Seventy-nine patients with long COVID evaluated at 3 to 6 months after infection were sampled for fecal metagenome analysis. Patients were divided into two distinct hierarchical clusters, based solely on the microbiome composition.

Compared to cluster 1 (n = 67), patients in cluster 2 (n = 12) showed a significantly reduced lung function (FEV1, FVC, and DLCO) and during acute COVID-19 showed a longer duration of hospital admissions (48 compared to 7 days) and higher rates of ICU admissions (92% compared to 22%). Additionally, the microbiome composition showed a reduced alpha diversity and lower proportion of butyrate-producing bacteria in cluster 2 together with higher abundances of Ruminococcus gnavus, Escherichia coli, Veillonella spp. and Streptococcus spp. and reduced abundances of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Eubacteria spp.

Further research could explore the effect of pre- and pro-biotic supplementation and its impact on lung function and societal participation in long COVID.

Link | PDF (International Journal of Molecular Sciences) [Open Access]

 

Could it not be that e.g. ‘bad diet’ causes both higher risk for severe Covid and gut dysbiosis, independent of eachother?

 

Definitely. Or perhaps being ill has caused people to change their diets. (Reduced energy to cook, gastrointesintal symptoms etc)