The impact of COVID-19 is well documented, with over sixteen million people infected and 665,000 deaths [1]. With any infection it is necessary to consider countermeasures which can improve immune functioning and the immunological response to vaccination. Our bodies are host to large numbers of bacteria which colonise the skin and the digestive system. These organisms are referred to as microbiota and interest here lies in the gut microbiota. These show large individual variation [2], which may plausibly explain differences in susceptibility to and severity of disease. An abnormal gut microbiota is referred to as gut dysbiosis, and this has been shown to be a risk factor for disease. For example, hypertension is linked to gut dysbiosis [3], as is coronary heart disease [4]. Similarly, patients with both Type 1 [5] and Type 2 [6] diabetes show signs of gut dysbiosis. Susceptibility to, and the severity of COVID-19 has been shown to be associated with the same diseases that lead to gut dysbiosis. This suggests that one plausible method of preventing and managing COVID-19 might be by beneficial changes in the gut microbiota. This could involve the use of probiotics or possibly prebiotics that lead to positive changes in gut flora.

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Citation

Citation: Andrew P Smith. “Gut Dysbiosis, Probiotics and COVID-19". Acta Scientific Gastrointestinal Disorders 3.9 (2020): 36-38.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Andrew P Smith. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.