Six-month follow-up of gut microbiota richness in patients with COVID-19

We read with great interest the recent article published in Gut in which Yeoh et al demonstrated that gut microbiota composition of recovered patients with COVID-19 remained significantly distinct from uninfected controls.1 Persisting symptoms, also known as ‘long COVID-19’, have been reported in a significant proportion of patients following hospital discharge.2 3 Gut dysbiosis might link to long COVID-19 risks.1 Few studies have focused on the recovery process of gut microbiota following SARS-CoV-2 infection.\n\nHere, we conducted a prospective study to longitudinally monitor alterations of gut microbiota in patients with COVID-19 using 16S rDNA sequencing (detailed methods in online supplementary materials). Faecal microbiota was monitored at three timepoints, acute phase (from illness onset to viral clearance), convalescence (from viral clearance to 2 weeks after hospital discharge), postconvalescence (6 months after hospital discharge).### Supplementary data\n\n[gutjnl-2021-324090supp001.pdf]\n\nThe gut microbiota richness, measured by Chao 1 index, was obviously lower (p\u003c0.01, Wilcoxon rank-sum test; figure 1A) in the acute phase of COVID-19 (median 217, IQR 164–266) as compared with uninfected controls (median 432, IQR 332–468). There was a non-significant increase of the Chao 1 index from the acute phase (median 217, IQR 164–266) to the convalescence (median 241, IQR 202–279) and postconvalescence (median 259, IQR 193–302). A Bray-Curtis based principal coordinated analysis revealed that the overall microbial composition of …