38 research outputs found
Persistent viral shedding of SARSâCoVâ2 in faeces â a rapid review
Aim
In addition to respiratory symptoms, COVIDâ19 can present with gastrointestinal complaints suggesting possible faecoâoral transmission. The primary aim of this review was to establish the incidence and timing of positive faecal samples for SARSâCoVâ2 in patients with COVIDâ19.
Methods
A systematic literature review identified studies describing COVIDâ19 patients tested for faecal virus. Search terms for MEDLINE included âclinicalâ, âfaecesâ, âgastrointestinal secretionsâ, âstoolâ, âCOVIDâ19â, âSARSâCoVâ2â and â2019ânCoVâ. Additional searches were done in the American Journal of Gastroenterology , Gastroenterology , Gut , Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology , the World Health Organization Database, the Centre for EvidenceâBased Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine , social media and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, bioRxiv and medRxiv preprints. Data were extracted concerning the type of test, number and timing of positive samples, incidence of positive faecal tests after negative nasopharyngeal swabs and evidence of viable faecal virus or faecoâoral transmission of the virus.
Results
Twentyâsix relevant articles were identified. Combining study results demonstrated that 53.9% of those tested for faecal RNA were positive. The duration of faecal viral shedding ranged from 1 to 33 days after a negative nasopharyngeal swab with one result remaining positive 47 days after onset of symptoms. There is insufficient evidence to suggest that COVIDâ19 is transmitted via faecally shed virus.
Conclusion
There is a high rate of positive polymerase chain reaction tests with persistence of SARSâCoVâ2 in faecal samples of patients with COVIDâ19. Further research is needed to confirm if this virus is viable and the degree of transmission through the faecoâoral route. This may have important implications on isolation, recommended precautions and protective equipment for interventional procedures involving the gastrointestinal tract
COVIDâ19 and nonâalcoholic fatty liver disease: Two intersecting pandemics
Background: Initial evidence from China suggests that most vulnerable subjects to COVID-19 infection suffer from pre-existing illness, including metabolic abnormalities. The pandemic characteristics and high-lethality rate of COVID-19 infection have raised concerns about interactions between virus pathobiology and components of the metabolic syndrome. Methods: We harmonized the information from the recent existing literature on COVID-19 acute pandemic and mechanisms of damage in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), as an example of chronic (non-communicable) metabolic pandemic. Results: COVID-19-infected patients are more fragile with underlying metabolic illness, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, chronic lung diseases (e.g. asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema) and metabolic syndrome. During metabolic abnormalities, expansion of metabolically active fat ('overfat condition') parallels chronic inflammatory changes, development of insulin resistance and accumulation of fat in configuring NAFLD. The deleterious interplay of inflammatory pathways chronically active in NAFLD and acutely in COVID-19-infected patients, can explain liver damage in a subgroup of patients and might condition a worse outcome in metabolically compromised NAFLD patients. In a subgroup of patients with NAFLD, the underlying liver fibrosis might represent an additional and independent risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness, irrespective of metabolic comorbidities. Conclusions: NAFLD can play a role in the outcome of COVID-19 illness due to frequent association with comorbidities. Initial evidences suggest that increased liver fibrosis in NAFLD might affect COVID-19 outcome. In addition, long-term monitoring of post-COVID-19 NAFLD patients is advisable, to document further deterioration of liver damage. Further studies are required in this field
Disruption of maternal gut microbiota during gestation alters offspring microbiota and immunity
Background: Early life microbiota is an important determinant of immune and metabolic development and may have lasting consequences. The maternal gut microbiota during pregnancy or breastfeeding is important for defining infant gut microbiota. We hypothesized that maternal gut microbiota during pregnancy and breastfeeding is a critical determinant of infant immunity. To test this, pregnant BALB/c dams were fed vancomycin for 5 days prior to delivery (gestation; Mg), 14 days postpartum during nursing (Mn), or during gestation and nursing (Mgn), or no vancomycin (Mc). We analyzed adaptive immunity and gut microbiota in dams and pups at various times after delivery.
Results
In addition to direct alterations to maternal gut microbial composition, pup gut microbiota displayed lower α-diversity and distinct community clusters according to timing of maternal vancomycin. Vancomycin was undetectable in maternal and offspring sera, therefore the observed changes in the microbiota of stomach contents (as a proxy for breastmilk) and pup gut signify an indirect mechanism through which maternal intestinal microbiota influences extra-intestinal and neonatal commensal colonization. These effects on microbiota influenced both maternal and offspring immunity. Maternal immunity was altered, as demonstrated by significantly higher levels of both total IgG and IgM in Mgn and Mn breastmilk when compared to Mc. In pups, lymphocyte numbers in the spleens of Pg and Pn were significantly increased compared to Pc. This increase in cellularity was in part attributable to elevated numbers of both CD4+ T cells and B cells, most notable Follicular B cells.
Conclusion
Our results indicate that perturbations to maternal gut microbiota dictate neonatal adaptive immunity