Gut Microbiota Interplay With COVID-19 Reveals Links to Host Lipid Metabolism Among Middle Eastern Populations

Mohammad Tahseen Al Bataineh; Andreas Henschel; Mira Mousa; Marianne Daou; Fathimathuz Waasia; Hussein Kannout; Mariam Khalili; Mohd Azzam Kayasseh; Abdulmajeed Alkhajeh; Maimunah Uddin; Nawal Alkaabi; Guan K Tay; Samuel F Feng; Ahmed F Yousef; Habiba S Alsafar

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.761067

Gut Microbiota Interplay With COVID-19 Reveals Links to Host Lipid Metabolism Among Middle Eastern Populations

Front Microbiol. 2021 Nov 5:12:761067. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.761067. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Mohammad Tahseen Al Bataineh^{1

2

3

4}, Andreas Henschel^{3

5}, Mira Mousa^{3

6}, Marianne Daou⁷, Fathimathuz Waasia³, Hussein Kannout³, Mariam Khalili³, Mohd Azzam Kayasseh⁸, Abdulmajeed Alkhajeh⁹, Maimunah Uddin¹⁰, Nawal Alkaabi¹⁰, Guan K Tay^{11

12}, Samuel F Feng^{3

13}, Ahmed F Yousef⁷, Habiba S Alsafar^{3

13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
² Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
³ Center for Biotechnology, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁴ Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁵ Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁶ Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproduction Health, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁸ Emirates Specialty Hospital, Dubai Healthcare City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
⁹ Medical Education and Research Department, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁰ Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
¹¹ Division of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
¹² School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia.
¹³ Department of Mathematics, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

The interplay between the compositional changes in the gastrointestinal microbiome, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) susceptibility and severity, and host functions is complex and yet to be fully understood. This study performed 16S rRNA gene-based microbial profiling of 143 subjects. We observed structural and compositional alterations in the gut microbiota of the SARS-CoV-2-infected group in comparison to non-infected controls. The gut microbiota composition of the SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals showed an increase in anti-inflammatory bacteria such as Faecalibacterium (p-value = 1.72 × 10^-6) and Bacteroides (p-value = 5.67 × 10^-8). We also revealed a higher relative abundance of the highly beneficial butyrate producers such as Anaerostipes (p-value = 1.75 × 10^-230), Lachnospiraceae (p-value = 7.14 × 10^-65), and Blautia (p-value = 9.22 × 10^-18) in the SARS-CoV-2-infected group in comparison to the control group. Moreover, phylogenetic investigation of communities by reconstructing unobserved state (PICRUSt) functional prediction analysis of the 16S rRNA gene abundance data showed substantial differences in the enrichment of metabolic pathways such as lipid, amino acid, carbohydrate, and xenobiotic metabolism, in comparison between both groups. We discovered an enrichment of linoleic acid, ether lipid, glycerolipid, and glycerophospholipid metabolism in the SARS-CoV-2-infected group, suggesting a link to SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication in host cells. We estimate the major contributing genera to the four pathways to be Parabacteroides, Streptococcus, Dorea, and Blautia, respectively. The identified differences provide a new insight to enrich our understanding of SARS-CoV-2-related changes in gut microbiota, their metabolic capabilities, and potential screening biomarkers linked to COVID-19 disease severity.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; glycerophospholipid; linoleic acid; microbiota.