Jonjić Antonija, Dolanc Ivan, Slivšek Goran, Bočkor Luka, Tarle Marko, Mustapić Sanda, Kmet Marta, Orehovec Biserka, Kučan Brlić Paola, Cokarić Brdovčak Maja, Obad Ante, Walenta Martin, Dražić Ivan, Bilić-Zulle Lidija, Lukšić Ivica, Bulić Neven, Goessler Walter, Jonjić Stipan, Čoklo Miran, Žučko Jurica
Institute for Anthropological Research, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Dubrava University Hospital, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Viruses. 2025 Apr 2;17(4):520. doi: 10.3390/v17040520.
Possible early detection of people at increased risk for severe COVID-19 clinical course is extremely important so that appropriate therapy can be initiated promptly to prevent numerous deaths. Our study included 45 patients treated for COVID-19 at Dubrava University Hospital, with clinical course analysed from medical records and stool samples collected for determination of the gut microbiota diversity using 16S rRNA analysis. Sequencing was successful for 41 samples belonging to four clinical course groups (WHO guidelines): 12 samples-critical, 12-severe, 9-moderate and 8-mild group. Microbial composition was assessed between groups using two approaches-ANCOM (QIIME2) and Kruskal-Wallis (MicrobiomeAnalyst). On the genus level, two taxa were found to be differentially abundant: archaeal Halococcus and Coprococcus (for both W = 37)-the two were most abundant in the critical group (10% and 0.94% of entire abundance, respectively). Coprococcus catus was the only species identified by both methods to be differentially abundant between groups and was most abundant in the critical group. Alpha diversity indicated greater evenness of features in the critical group. Beta diversity showed clustering of samples from the critical group. A relationship between gut microbiota composition and the clinical course of COVID-19 disease was indicated, pointing towards specific distinct features of the critical group. In a broader sense, our findings might be useful in combating potential future similar pandemics and emerging virus outbreaks.
尽早发现新冠肺炎临床病程风险增加的人群极为重要，这样就能及时启动适当治疗以预防众多死亡。我们的研究纳入了在杜布拉瓦大学医院接受新冠肺炎治疗的45名患者，通过病历分析其临床病程，并收集粪便样本，采用16S rRNA分析来测定肠道微生物群的多样性。对属于四个临床病程组（世界卫生组织指南）的41个样本测序成功：12个样本为危重症组，12个为重症组，9个为中症组，8个为轻症组。使用两种方法（ANCOM（QIIME2）和Kruskal-Wallis（MicrobiomeAnalyst））评估组间微生物组成。在属水平上，发现两个分类群的丰度存在差异：古菌盐球菌属和粪球菌属（两者W值均为37），这两个属在危重症组中最为丰富（分别占总丰度的10%和0.94%）。猫粪球菌是两种方法均鉴定出的组间丰度有差异的唯一物种，在危重症组中最为丰富。α多样性表明危重症组的特征更为均匀。β多样性显示危重症组的样本聚类。这表明肠道微生物群组成与新冠肺炎疾病的临床病程之间存在关联，指向危重症组的特定明显特征。从更广泛的意义上讲，我们的研究结果可能有助于应对未来潜在的类似大流行和新出现的病毒爆发。
