Nasopharyngeal microbial communities of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 that developed COVID-19.

Background: SARS-CoV-2 is an RNA virus causing COVID-19. The clinical characteristics and epidemiology of COVID-19 have been extensively investigated, however, only one study so far focused on the patient?s nasopharynx microbiota. In this study we investigated the nasopharynx microbial community of patients that developed different severity levels of COVID-19. We performed 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing from nasopharyngeal swab samples obtained from SARS-CoV-2 positive (56) and negative (18) patients in the province of Alicante (Spain) in their first visit to the hospital. Positive SARS-CoV-2 patients were observed and later categorized in mild (symptomatic without hospitalization), moderate (hospitalization), and severe (admission to ICU). We compared the microbiota diversity and OTU composition among severity groups and built bacterial co-abundance networks for each group. Results: Statistical analysis indicated differences in the nasopharyngeal microbiome of COVID19 patients. 62 OTUs were found exclusively in SARS-CoV-2 positive patients, mostly classified as members of the phylum Bacteroidota (18) and Firmicutes (25). OTUs classified as Prevotella were found to be significantly more abundant in patients that developed more severe COVID-19. Furthermore, co-abundance analysis indicated a loss of network complexity among samples from patients that later developed more severe symptoms. Conclusion: Our study shows that the nasopharyngeal microbiome of COVID-19 patients showed differences in the composition of specific OTUs and complexity of co-abundance networks. Taxa with differential abundances among groups could serve as biomarkers for COVID-19 severity. Nevertheless, further studies with larger sample sizes should be conducted to validate these results.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	PAZ VENTERO, M., CUADRAT, R. R. C., VIDAL, I., ANDRADE, B. G. N., MOLINA-PARDINES, C., HARI-MORENO, J. M., COUTINHO, F. H., MERINO, E., REGITANO, L. C. de A., SILVEIRA, C. B., AFLI, H., LÓPEZ-PÉREZ, M., RODRÍGUEZ, J. C.
Other Authors:	MARIA PAZ VENTERO, ISABIAL; RAFAEL R. C. CUADRAT, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke; INMACULADA VIDAL, ISABIAL; BRUNO G. N. ANDRADE, Munster Technological University; CARMEN MOLINA-PARDINES, ISABIAL; JOSE M. HARO-MORENO, Universidad Miguel Hernández; FELIPE H. COUTINHO, Universidad Miguel Hernández; ESPERANZA MERINO, ISABIAL; LUCIANA CORREIA DE ALMEIDA REGITANO, CPPSE; CYNTHIA B. SILVEIRA, University of Miami; HAITHEM AFLI, Munster Technological University; MARIO LÓPEZ-PÉREZ, ISABIAL; JUAN CARLOS RODRÍGUEZ, ISABIAL.
Format:	Artigo de periódico biblioteca
Language:	Ingles English
Published:	2021-07-02
Subjects:	COVID 19, SARS CoV 2, NGS next generation sequencing, Coronavirus, Microbiome, Prevotella,
Online Access:	http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/alice/handle/doc/1132766
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