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
. 2022 Sep 16;7(38):33651-33665.
doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c02524. eCollection 2022 Sep 27.

Association of SARS-CoV-2 and Polypharmacy with Gut-Lung Axis: From Pathogenesis to Treatment

Jonaid Ahmad Malik  1   2 , Sakeel Ahmed  3 , Zahid Yaseen  4 , Muteb Alanazi  5 , Tareq Nafea Alharby  5 , Hisham Abdulaziz Alshammari  5 , Sirajudheen Anwar  6
Affiliations
Review

Association of SARS-CoV-2 and Polypharmacy with Gut-Lung Axis: From Pathogenesis to Treatment

Jonaid Ahmad Malik et al. ACS Omega. .

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel infectious contagion leading to COVID-19 disease. The virus has affected the lives of millions of people across the globe with a high mortality rate. It predominantly affects the lung (respiratory system), but it also affects other organs, including the cardiovascular, psychological, and gastrointestinal (GIT) systems. Moreover, elderly and comorbid patients with compromised organ functioning and pre-existing polypharmacy have worsened COVID-19-associated complications. Microbiota (MB) of the lung plays an important role in developing COVID-19. The extent of damage mainly depends on the predominance of opportunistic pathogens and, inversely, with the predominance of advantageous commensals. Changes in the gut MB are associated with a bidirectional shift in the interaction among the gut with a number of vital human organs, which leads to severe disease symptoms. This review focuses on dysbiosis in the gut-lung axis, COVID-19-induced worsening of comorbidities, and the influence of polypharmacy on MB.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Viruses that are commonly found in the human body. MB–virus interaction, anatomical locations, and viral diversity display the most common viral species at each location. Viruses can infect and interact with the local microbial ecology at each location.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bidirectional gut-lung axis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparative relation between eubiosis and dysbiosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Wang J.; Li F.; Tian Z. Role of microbiota on lung homeostasis and diseases. Sci. China Life Sci. 2017, 60 (12), 1407–1415. 10.1007/s11427-017-9151-1. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guinane CM; Cotter PD Role of the gut microbiota in health and chronic gastrointestinal disease: understanding a hidden metabolic organ. Therap Adv. Gastroenterol 2013, 6 (4), 295.10.1177/1756283X13482996. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Round JL; Mazmanian SK The gut microbiota shapes intestinal immune responses during health and disease. Nat. Rev. Immunol 2009, 9 (5), 313–323. 10.1038/nri2515. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Belkaid Y.; Tamoutounour S. The influence of skin microorganisms on cutaneous immunity. Nat. Rev. Immunol 2016, 16 (6), 353–366. 10.1038/nri.2016.48. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mueller ER; Wolfe AJ; Brubaker L. Female urinary microbiota. Curr. Opin Urol 2017, 27 (3), 282–286. 10.1097/MOU.0000000000000396. - DOI - PMC - PubMed