Nasopharyngeal Microbial Communities of Patients Infected With SARS-CoV-2 That Developed COVID-19
Por:
Ventero, M, Cuadrat, R, Vidal, I, Andrade, B, Molina-Pardines, C, Haro-Moreno, J, Coutinho, F, Merino, E, Regitano, L, Silveira, C, Afli, H, Lopez-Perez, M and Rodriguez, J
Publicada:
17 mar 2021
Ahead of Print:
17 mar 2021
Resumen:
Background SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus causing COVID-19. The clinical characteristics and epidemiology of COVID-19 have been extensively investigated, however, only one study so far focused on the patient's nasopharynx microbiota. In this study we investigated the nasopharynx microbial community of patients that developed different severity levels of COVID-19. We performed 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing from nasopharyngeal swab samples obtained from SARS-CoV-2 positive (56) and negative (18) patients in the province of Alicante (Spain) in their first visit to the hospital. Positive SARS-CoV-2 patients were observed and later categorized in mild (symptomatic without hospitalization), moderate (hospitalization), and severe (admission to ICU). We compared the microbiota diversity and OTU composition among severity groups and built bacterial co-abundance networks for each group. Results Statistical analysis indicated differences in the nasopharyngeal microbiome of COVID19 patients. 62 OTUs were found exclusively in SARS-CoV-2 positive patients, mostly classified as members of the phylum Bacteroidota (18) and Firmicutes (25). OTUs classified as Prevotella were found to be significantly more abundant in patients that developed more severe COVID-19. Furthermore, co-abundance analysis indicated a loss of network complexity among samples from patients that later developed more severe symptoms. Conclusion Our study shows that the nasopharyngeal microbiome of COVID-19 patients showed differences in the composition of specific OTUs and complexity of co-abundance networks. Taxa with differential abundances among groups could serve as biomarkers for COVID-19 severity. Nevertheless, further studies with larger sample sizes should be conducted to validate these results.
Filiaciones:
:
Alicante Univ, Alicante Inst Sanit & Biomed Res ISABIAL, Microbiol Dept, Gen Hosp, Alicante, Spain
Cuadrat, R:
German Inst Human Nutr Potsdam Rehbrucke, Dept Mol Epidemiol, Nuthetal, Germany
:
Alicante Univ, Alicante Inst Sanit & Biomed Res ISABIAL, Microbiol Dept, Gen Hosp, Alicante, Spain
Andrade, B:
Embrapa Pecuaria Sudeste, Sao Carlos, Brazil
:
Alicante Univ, Alicante Inst Sanit & Biomed Res ISABIAL, Microbiol Dept, Gen Hosp, Alicante, Spain
Munster Technol Univ MTU, Dept Comp Sci, Cork, Ireland
Haro-Moreno, J:
Univ Miguel Hernandez, Evolutionary Genom Grp, Div Microbiol, Alacant, Spain
Coutinho, F:
Univ Miguel Hernandez, Evolutionary Genom Grp, Div Microbiol, Alacant, Spain
:
Alicante Univ, Gen Hosp, Alicante Inst Hlth & Biomed Res ISABIAL, Infect Dis Unit, Alicante, Spain
Regitano, L:
Munster Technol Univ MTU, Dept Comp Sci, Cork, Ireland
Silveira, C:
Univ Miami, Dept Biol, Miami, FL USA
Afli, H:
Munster Technol Univ MTU, Dept Comp Sci, Cork, Ireland
:
Alicante Univ, Alicante Inst Sanit & Biomed Res ISABIAL, Microbiol Dept, Gen Hosp, Alicante, Spain
Univ Miguel Hernandez, Evolutionary Genom Grp, Div Microbiol, Alacant, Spain
:
Alicante Univ, Alicante Inst Sanit & Biomed Res ISABIAL, Microbiol Dept, Gen Hosp, Alicante, Spain
Univ Miguel Hernandez, Evolutionary Genom Grp, Div Microbiol, Alacant, Spain
Gold, Green Published
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