Intestinal Flora as a Potential Strategy to Fight SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Li-Hong He; Long-Fei Ren; Jun-Feng Li; Yong-Na Wu; Xun Li; Lei Zhang

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2020.01388

Intestinal Flora as a Potential Strategy to Fight SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Front Microbiol. 2020 Jun 9:11:1388. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01388. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Li-Hong He^{1

2

3}, Long-Fei Ren^{1

2

3}, Jun-Feng Li⁴, Yong-Na Wu³, Xun Li^{1

2

3}, Lei Zhang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ The First Clinical Medical College, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
² Department of General Surgery, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Biological Therapy and Regenerative Medicine Transformation Gansu Province, Lanzhou, China.
⁴ The Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread rapidly worldwide, seriously endangering human health. In addition to the typical symptoms of pulmonary infection, patients with COVID-19 have been reported to have gastrointestinal symptoms and/or intestinal flora dysbiosis. It is known that a healthy intestinal flora is closely related to the maintenance of pulmonary and systemic health by regulating the host immune homeostasis. Role of the "gut-lung axis" has also been well-articulated. This review provides a novel suggestion that intestinal flora may be one of the mediators of the gastrointestinal responses and abnormal immune responses in hosts caused by SARS-CoV-2; improving the composition of intestinal flora and the proportion of its metabolites through probiotics, and personalized diet could be a potential strategy to prevent and treat COVID-19. More clinical and evidence-based medical trials may be initiated to determine the strategy.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; SCFAs; gut-lung axis; immunity; intestinal flora.

Publication types

Review