COVID-19 and the gastrointestinal tract: source of infection or merely a target of the inflammatory process following SARS-CoV-2 infection?
Open Access
- 14 April 2021
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. in World Journal of Gastroenterology
- Vol. 27 (14), 1406-1418
- https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v27.i14.1406
Abstract
Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms have been described in a conspicuous percentage of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. This clinical evidence is supported by the detection of viral RNA in stool, which also supports the hypothesis of a possible fecal-oral transmission route. The involvement of GI tract in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is corroborated by the theoretical assumption that angiotensin converting enzyme 2, which is a SARS-CoV-2 target receptor, is present along the GI tract. Studies have pointed out that gut dysbiosis may occur in COVID-19 patients, with a possible correlation with disease severity and with complications such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. However, the question to be addressed is whether dysbiosis is a consequence or a contributing cause of SARS-CoV-2 infection. In such a scenario, pharmacological therapies aimed at decreasing GI permeability may be beneficial for COVID-19 patients. Considering the possibility of a fecal-oral transmission route, water and environmental sanitation play a crucial role for COVID-19 containment, especially in developing countries.Keywords
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