UCL Discovery
Sputum and oral microbiota profiles are associated with long COVID severity and phenotype post-hospitalisation: a UK multicentre, prospective cohort study
By Daniela Alferes de Lima Headley, Hollian Richarson, Chandani Hennayake and 22 others.
Abstract
Background
Acute COVID-19 alters the airway microbiota. Whether these changes persist post-COVID-19 and contribute to long COVID is unknown. We aimed to describe the microbiota by long COVID severity and subtype, and identify links with inflammation.
Methods
Adults were prospectively recruited to the longitudinal UK Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID). Patients were grouped by previously described "severity clusters" (of ongoing health impairments) and symptom subgroups. Oral and sputum microbiota (at 6 months post-discharge) were characterised through 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing, and microbiota diversity was assessed. Co-occurrence network analysis identified keystone taxa. Associations between keystone taxa and plasma inflammatory proteins were assessed through Spearman's rank correlations.