GI Division, Department of Medicine, Cancer Center, Howard University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.
Howard University College of Medicine, 2041 Georgia Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC, 20060, USA.
Dig Dis Sci. 2024 Feb;69(2):562-569. doi: 10.1007/s10620-023-08176-w. Epub 2023 Dec 22.
BACKGROUND: Long-COVID is a condition post SARS-CoV-2 infection with persistent or recurring symptoms affecting multiple organs, and may involve viral persistence, changes to the microbiome, coagulopathies, and alterations to neuro-immune interactions. These factors can disrupt the Gut-Brain Axis, which is a complex system involving bidirectional communication between the central nervous system and the gastrointestinal (GI) system. As a result of these disruptions, individuals with long-COVID may develop post-infectious functional GI disorders, which can cause a range of symptoms affecting the digestive system. AIM: To understand frequency of GI manifestations of Long-COVID and to determine association with sleep or neurological symptoms in a predominantly minority population. METHODS: We included patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR (n = 747) who were hospitalized from Feb. 2020 to May 2021 at Howard University Hospital and followed between 6 and 12 months from discharge. GI, sleep, and neurological symptoms (via the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scoring system) were assessed using a standardized questionnaire. Linear regression analysis, χ and Fisher's exact test were utilized to determine the statistical significance of correlations of GI/Neuro/COVID. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 58, with 51.6% females and a predominant African American ethnicity (73.6%, n = 550). A total of 108 patients died during their initial hospital stay, with the remaining 639 patients followed-up. Three hundred fifty (350) patients responded to the questionnaire (57 patients died during the follow-up period). Overall, 39 (13.3%) patients reported GI-related symptoms, out of which 19 (6.4%) had persistent symptoms and 20 (6.8%) developed new onset GI symptoms. Nausea and vomiting were the most common 24/39 (61.5%), followed by abdominal pain 7/39 (18%), diarrhea 5/39 (12.8%), and others 3/39 (7.6%). Patients who presented with vomiting during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection were more likely to have Long-COVID GI manifestations (P = 0.023). Use of ACE inhibitors, abnormal lymphocyte count and elevated ferritin are other variables that showed significant associations with Long-COVID GI manifestations (P = 0.03, 0.006 and 0.03, respectively). During follow-up, a total of 28 (9.5%) patients reported difficulty with sleep and 79 (27%) patients had abnormal MoCA assessment. With further analysis, there was a trend between presentation of GI symptoms on admission with abnormal MoCA assessment, and an association between abnormal LFTs and history of liver disease during hospitalization with subsequent sleep problems. Baseline characteristics, clinical comorbidities, other laboratory values, hospital length of stay, mechanical ventilation, medications during hospitalization, re-admission and Flu or COVID-19 vaccination have not shown any association with Long-COVID GI symptoms in our cohort. CONCLUSION: Dyspeptic symptoms were common GI manifestations in the acute and post COVID periods. GI symptoms, abnormal LFTs and a history of liver disease during the acute infectious phase associates with abnormal MoCA and sleep problems during follow-up. Further large population studies are needed to determine if COVID-19 leads to a GI symptoms-associated Long-COVID phenotypes and other symptoms through the Gut-Brain-Axis.
背景:长新冠是一种在感染 SARS-CoV-2 后出现的持续或反复出现的症状,影响多个器官,可能涉及病毒持续存在、微生物组变化、凝血异常以及神经免疫相互作用的改变。这些因素会破坏肠道-大脑轴,这是一个涉及中枢神经系统和胃肠道(GI)系统之间双向通信的复杂系统。由于这些干扰,长新冠患者可能会出现感染后功能性 GI 障碍,从而导致一系列影响消化系统的症状。
目的:了解长新冠患者的胃肠道表现频率,并确定其与睡眠或神经系统症状在以少数族裔为主的人群中的关联。
方法:我们纳入了 2020 年 2 月至 2021 年 5 月期间在霍华德大学医院住院的 SARS-CoV-2 PCR 阳性患者(n=747),并在出院后 6 至 12 个月进行随访。使用标准化问卷评估胃肠道、睡眠和神经系统症状(通过蒙特利尔认知评估(MoCA)评分系统)。线性回归分析、χ 和 Fisher 确切检验用于确定 GI/神经/COVID 的相关性的统计学意义。
结果:患者的平均年龄为 58 岁,女性占 51.6%(n=550),以非洲裔美国人为主。共有 108 名患者在住院期间死亡,其余 639 名患者接受了随访。共有 350 名(57 名患者在随访期间死亡)患者对问卷做出了回应。总体而言,39 名(13.3%)患者报告了胃肠道相关症状,其中 19 名(6.4%)持续存在症状,20 名(6.8%)出现新的胃肠道症状。恶心和呕吐最常见,共 24/39(61.5%),其次是腹痛 7/39(18%)、腹泻 5/39(12.8%)和其他 3/39(7.6%)。在急性 SARS-CoV-2 感染期间出现呕吐的患者更有可能出现长新冠胃肠道表现(P=0.023)。使用 ACE 抑制剂、异常淋巴细胞计数和升高的铁蛋白是与长新冠胃肠道表现相关的其他变量(P=0.03、0.006 和 0.03)。在随访期间,共有 28 名(9.5%)患者报告睡眠困难,79 名(27%)患者 MoCA 评估异常。进一步分析显示,入院时出现胃肠道症状与 MoCA 评估异常之间存在趋势,异常肝功能检查和住院期间存在肝脏疾病与随后的睡眠问题之间存在关联。在我们的队列中,基线特征、临床合并症、其他实验室值、住院时间、机械通气、住院期间的药物、再次入院和流感或 COVID-19 疫苗接种均与长新冠胃肠道症状无关。
结论:在急性和新冠后时期,消化不良症状是常见的胃肠道表现。胃肠道症状、异常肝功能检查和急性感染期的肝脏疾病史与随访期间的 MoCA 异常和睡眠问题有关。需要进一步的大规模人群研究来确定 COVID-19 是否通过肠道-大脑轴导致与胃肠道症状相关的长新冠表型和其他症状。
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