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. 2020 May 20;159(3):944–955.e8. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2020.05.048

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Schematic summary of the gut microbiome alterations in COVID-19. In healthy individuals, Eubacterium, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia, and Lachnospiraceae taxa are prevalent in their gut microbiome. However, the gut microbiome of patients with COVID-19 is characterized by enrichment of opportunistic pathogens and depletion of commensals in the gut. Such gut dysbiosis persists during the COVID-19 disease course, even after clearance/recovery of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Baseline fecal abundance of the bacteria Coprobacillus, Clostridium ramosum, and Clostridium hathewayi showed significant correlation with COVID-19 severity, whereas an anti-inflammatory bacterium Faecalibacterium prausnitzii showed an inverse correlation. Four Bacteroidetes members, including Bacteroides dorei, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Bacteroides massiliensis, and Bacteroides ovatus, known to downregulate ACE2 expression in the murine gut, showed significant inverse correlation with fecal SARS-CoV-2 viral load in patients with COVID-19.