At-a-glance

• UK scientists (Prof. Glenn Gibson, Dr. Gemma Walton, Dr. Kirsty Hunter and Prof. Tim Spector) requested that Matt Hancock (the country’s health secretary) call attention to the links between gut health and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). (The original content of the letter was not located)
• Via the lung-gut pathway, research suggests a relationship between immunity to COVID-19, the respiratory tract and the gut microbiome.1
• While most COVID patients present with primarily respiratory symptoms, some manifest gastrointestinal symptoms including vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Viral RNA has been recovered from the stool in those infected as well as a high level of viral receptor angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in gastrointestinal epithelial cells.2
• Probiotics (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, Bacillus subtilis, and Enterococcus faecalis) demonstrated significantly less ventilator-associated pneumonia with placebo.3, 4
• Glyphosate-based herbicides have been shown to impair the microbiota via the shikimate pathway. 5, 6
• “It is likely that a novel and more targeted approach to modulation of gut microbiota as one of the therapeutic approaches of COVID-19 and its co-morbidities will be necessary.”7

There is an erratic progression and presentation of illnesses from COVID-19 from the global perspective. While some countries have leveled off and are lessening restrictions, others like the US continue to spike and have taken the lead in the number of global cases.