Does the nasal microbiota affect symptoms after viral infection?

Dr.

This article in the "Diagnostics" magazine, when researchers examined 27 virus-negative persons between 49 and 78 years old, 30 virus-positive but asymptomatic persons, and 27 virus-positive but moderately symptomatic persons When there is no need for the microbiota of hospitalized patients, different patterns have emerged

“Millions of people have been infected, and relatively few people have symptoms

Corresponding author Fulzele said that the most significant changes occurred in patients with symptoms, including about half of the patients who did not have a sufficient number of microbes to sequence

They were surprised to find that there were "low readings" of bacteria in the nasopharyngeal cavity of symptomatic individuals, while there were only two and four in the negative and positive asymptomatic groups, respectively

"We don't know which one will come first, the disease or the extinction of the microbiota," Fulzele said

Based on the experience of the gastrointestinal microbiota, Kolhe believes that different microbiota content and size are another good choice, and they all hope to get a clear answer

They also found differences in the types of bacteria, although the researchers pointed out that the functions of some of the bacteria they found were unclear

As the name of the virus and the experience of the past two years have shown, one of the main ways to spread SARS-Cov-2 is when someone coughs, sneezes or even talks, the droplets that carry the virus are called aerosols.

People who are 65 years and older and/or have underlying health conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes are considered to be at increased risk of hospitalization and death from infection, so they decided to study the microbiota called the nasopharynx in the upper respiratory system of the elderly

Fulzele said that the moist, mucus-secreting lining of the area is like a natural barrier against invaders, and there are also a large number of immune cells that are key to their response to respiratory viruses

There are also a large number of ACE-2 receptors in this area that bind to the coronavirus, which Kolhe said is the main landing point for the virus

Kolhe and Fulzele said their new findings indicate that changes in the microbiota of symptomatic patients affect their immune response to the virus

Symptomatic individuals have two types of bacteria, including epidermal bacteria, which have significantly higher levels, usually found on the skin, and are related to acne, but also related to heart infections and shoulder infections after surgery

The microbiota of both symptomatic and asymptomatic infection groups contain large numbers of bacterial-like cyanobacteria that can be found in contaminated water, but they are usually residents of the human microbiota and seem to play a role in regulating the immune response

Fulzele pointed out that between asymptomatic and symptomatic, there was no significant change in microbial community diversity—just a huge difference in numbers—but they did see a large number of individual bacteria move up and down
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For example, they drew a map of the amount of another water-loving bacterium Amylibacter.
When the individual symptoms move from negative to positive, it looks like a ladder, while the number of other bacteria shows a downward trend
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They wrote that although the relationship between the nasopharyngeal microbiota and the severity of COVID-19 is unclear, their research shows that there is a "strong correlation" between the nasal microbiota, SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity
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Their analysis was completed before the current virus variants began to appear, but the researchers said that differences in microbiota may also apply to these viruses, and they have already begun the analysis
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The researchers say that larger studies are needed to ensure that the clear patterns they found hold true
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They are submitting a grant application to conduct larger research and find other test sites that they hope to become partners
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They said that using the same nasopharyngeal swabs used for many new coronavirus tests allows microbiota analysis to be performed at the same time as the tests
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They noticed that there has been a sharp contrast in the viral infection experience in the past two years.
Most infected people have no symptoms or have mild symptoms similar to a cold, while others have severe viral pneumonia and require hospitalization.
And die
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They write that some recently published studies indicate that the bacterial component of the nasal cavity may have a "significant" impact on the development of respiratory infections and the severity of symptoms
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Some studies have shown that the nasal microbiota can affect the viral load, immune response, and symptoms of rhinovirus infection, and rhinovirus infection causes 10-40% of the common cold
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They write that countless other diseases such as inflammatory bowel syndrome, peptic ulcers and viral diseases are related to significant changes in the intestinal, nasal and oral microbiota
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The diversity of bacteria in the microbiota is usually a good thing, and with age, the diversity of bacteria will naturally decrease.
Habits such as smoking will also damage the diversity of bacteria, and habits such as dietary diversification will also improve the diversity of bacteria.
Sex
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Alteration in Nasopharyngeal Microbiota Profile in Aged Patients with COVID-19