Study finds how severe covid infection can compromise your gut health

While severe COVID-19 can cause breathing problems and high fever, some patients may experience diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, suggesting gastrointestinal tract involvement.

The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, looked at gastrointestinal tract samples from patients who died after being diagnosed with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic.

They found that the system normally regulating the composition of microbial communities – known as Peirce’s patches – was severely disrupted in severe COVID-19, regardless of whether there was evidence of virus present in the gut.

This includes a lack of germ centres, which typically circulate antibody-producing cells in patients who die from COVID-19.

This resulting in poor local immunity can lead to a decrease in microbial diversity, a condition known as dysbiosis.

Professor Joe Spencer from King’s College London said: “This study shows that in severe COVID-19, this key component of the immune system is disrupted, whether the gut itself is infected with SARS-CoV-2 or not.”

“This would likely contribute to the disturbances in the intestinal microbial population in COVID-19 reported by others,” he said.

Researchers said the findings suggest that oral vaccination may not be effective if the patient is already sick, because the gut’s immune system is already compromised.

“Understanding the factors that drive such lymphoid tissue pathology in severe inflammatory responses in the future will be important,” Spencer said.

Studies have also previously found that active and prolonged intestinal viral infection occurs in COVID-19 patients even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms.