Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Fall;13(4):341-350.

Coronaviruses and gastrointestinal symptoms: an old liaison for the new SARS-CoV-2

Giacomo Caio  1   2 , Lisa Lungaro  1 , Rosario Cultrera  1 , Roberto De Giorgio  1 , Umberto Volta  3
Affiliations
Review

Coronaviruses and gastrointestinal symptoms: an old liaison for the new SARS-CoV-2

Giacomo Caio et al. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench. 2020 Fall.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has caused a pandemic with more than 600,000 deaths to date. It is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a member of the beta-coronavirus genus that also includes SARS and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS). While the typical presentation is given by respiratory symptoms and fever, some patients also report gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Several studies have identified the SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stool specimens of infected patients, and its viral receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is highly expressed in enterocytes. In this short review, we report the frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms in infected patients and suggest possible implications for disease management, transmission, and infection control.

Keywords: Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2; COVID-19; Diarrhea; Gastrointestinal Presentation; Nausea; SARS-CoV-2; Vomiting..

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Guan WJ, Ni ZY, Hu Y, Liang WH, Ou CQ, He JX, et al. Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China. N Engl J Med. 2020;382:1708–20. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sultan S, Altayar O, Siddique SM, Davitkov P, Feuerstein JD, Lim JK, et al. Meta-Analysis of International Data, and Recommendations for the Consultative Management of Patients with COVID-19. Gastroenterology. 2020;159:320–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhang H, Kang Z, Gong H, Xu D, Wang J, Li Z. Digestive system is a potential route of COVID-19: an analysis of single-cell coexpression pattern of key proteins in viral entry process. Gut. 2020;69:1010–8.
    1. Kapikian AZ. The coronaviruses. Dev Biol Stand. 1975;28:42–64. - PubMed
    1. Norman JO, Lambert G, Moon HW, Stark SL. Age dependent resistance to transmissible gastroenteritis of swine (TGE) II Coronavirus titer in tissues of pigs after exposure. Can J Comp Med. 1973;37:167–70. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources