Intermodulation of gut-lung axis microbiome and the implications of biotics to combat COVID-19

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has infected millions of people around the world with a surge in transmission and mortality rates. Although it is a respiratory viral infection that affects airway epithelial cells, a diverse set of complications, including cytokine storm, gastrointestinal disorders, neurological distress, and hyperactive immune responses have been reported. However, growing evidence indicates that the bidirectional crosstalk of the gut-lung axis can decipher the complexity of the disease. Though not much research has been focused on the gut-lung axis microbiome, there is a translocation of COVID-19 infection from the lung to the gut through the lymphatic system resulting in disruption of gut permeability and its integrity. It is believed that detailed elucidation of the gut-lung axis crosstalk and the role of microbiota can unravel the most significant insights on the discovery of diagnosis using microbiome-based-therapeutics for COVID-19. This review calls attention to relate the influence of dysbiosis caused by COVID-19 and the involvement of the gut-lung axis. It presents first of its kind details that concentrate on the momentousness of biotics in disease progression and restoration.

Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• Gut-lung axis
• lung dysbiosis
• microbiome-based therapeutics
• immune modulation

Acknowledgments

We thank the management of Stella Maris College for their extensive encouragement and support through the Seed fund.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.