Abstract
Introduction: Related studies suggest that the gut microbiome influences the immune system's response to COVID-19 infection, and possibly its severity and outcome too.
Aim: We present the gut microbiome and its modifications, to explore their association to the severity of COVID-19 after coronavirus infection.
Methods: Search of national and international medical databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, MOB) using the keywords COVID-19, microbiome, dysbiosis, diseases and probiotic.
Results: Various viral infections have recently caused a significant number of diseases and deaths worldwide, and the microbiome’s role in regulating defence mechanisms is more and more ferequently demonstrated. Based on results of microbiome research to date, in dysbiosis the antiviral immune response is weakened, and probiotics enhance the intestinal mucosal barrier function against various viruses. Clinical trials demonstrated the changing microbiome in COVID-19 patients and suggest that the composition of the gut microbiome may probably be one of the strongest predictors of the severity of COVID-19.
Conclusion: imbalance of the microbiome, immune system function and the severity of illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus are interrelated, thus the body’s ecosystem is an important component of our health and we must do everything we can to keep it intact.
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