Author Topic: Gut microbiota tied to COVID-19 severity and dysfunctional immune response  (Read 3689 times)

Muon

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We need a study like this for POIS ASAP!

Gut microbiota composition reflects disease severity and dysfunctional immune responses in patients with COVID-19

Thanks to the poster from the Phoenix Rising forum, discussion inside:
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/gut-bacteria-tied-to-covid-19-severity-immune-response.82660/

r/covidlonghaulers: sex/ejaculation induced relapse

Covid 19 Long Haulers POIScenter thread

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) POIScenter thread

Antibiotics and POIS

Dysfunctional Immune Response in POISer due to dysbiosis?

POIS is gone!

BUT here is where it gets interesting.. minus the degree of shortness of breath and heart burn.. the symptoms just feel like a really bad POIS episode. The cognitive effects people report such as brain fog and ability to find words in speech seem particularly similar!

Thanks MrMoonJr.
Yes, the symptoms describe for the Long COVID syndrome looks a lot like POIS symptoms:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_COVID , in particular see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_COVID#List_of_symptoms

Here is another source of data on this topic:
"A follow-up study of COVID-19 consequences in 1,733 patients discharged from the hospital in Wuhan, China after 6 months reported fatigue or muscle weakness (63%), sleep difficulties (26%), and anxiety or depression (23%) were the most common symptoms. Lung function, as measured by CT showing interstitial change and 6-minute walking distance, was less than the lower limit of normal for 22-56% across different severity scales. [168]"( from a site I have access thourgh my profession, so cannot link to the article.  The ref 168 is https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32656-8/fulltext.  OF note is that they cite the psychological problems, not cited much in the wikipedia article. )

Some patients, that "recover" from COVID-19, experience POIS-like symptoms. It may give some insights into what is happening with POIS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu_Gs7N4lGk

16S Microbiome test from Atlas Biomed (I don't have any printout of results, they are visible in a webpage with diagrams, so I can't post all of it)
- I am missing a number of important butyrate-producing bacteria such as faecalibacterium, roseburia, coprococcus, akkermansia. I also have very low eubacterium.
- I am also missing a non-butyrate bacteria called Lactobacillus.
- Bifidobacteria is about 2.4%.

Butyrate maintains the gut lining, it also produces regulatory immune cells that prevent autoimmune disease. People with Celiac disease and IBS have been found to have low butyrate bacteria. I think when we orgasm, oxidative stress rises and our butyrate bacteria cannot produce enough butyrate to suppress it so we get damage to the body.

I've had blood tests done multiple times during my worst fever episodes, and everything comes back normal except for very low levels of iron (I usually have normal or even high iron and hemoglobin levels), and through-the-roof amounts of C-reactive protein. This led doctors to think I could have mononucleosis or some kind of bacterial infection, but all specific tests came back negative. They put me on antibiotics anyway, and that solved most symptoms almost immediately and made me able to get out of bed and finally get better during the worst episode I've ever had. That's why I've always thought it must be some kind of infection by some pathogen, even when I used to believe an autoinmune reaction must be the cause. Now I don't even know what to believe or what to do.

Abstract
Objective Although COVID-19 is primarily a respiratory illness, there is mounting evidence suggesting that the GI tract is involved in this disease. We investigated whether the gut microbiome is linked to disease severity in patients with COVID-19, and whether perturbations in microbiome composition, if any, resolve with clearance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Methods In this two-hospital cohort study, we obtained blood, stool and patient records from 100 patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Serial stool samples were collected from 27 of the 100 patients up to 30 days after clearance of SARS-CoV-2. Gut microbiome compositions were characterised by shotgun sequencing total DNA extracted from stools. Concentrations of inflammatory cytokines and blood markers were measured from plasma.

Results Gut microbiome composition was significantly altered in patients with COVID-19 compared with non-COVID-19 individuals irrespective of whether patients had received medication (p<0.01). Several gut commensals with known immunomodulatory potential such as Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Eubacterium rectale and bifidobacteria were underrepresented in patients and remained low in samples collected up to 30 days after disease resolution. Moreover, this perturbed composition exhibited stratification with disease severity concordant with elevated concentrations of inflammatory cytokines and blood markers such as C reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl transferase.

Conclusion Associations between gut microbiota composition, levels of cytokines and inflammatory markers in patients with COVID-19 suggest that the gut microbiome is involved in the magnitude of COVID-19 severity possibly via modulating host immune responses. Furthermore, the gut microbiota dysbiosis after disease resolution could contribute to persistent symptoms, highlighting a need to understand how gut microorganisms are involved in inflammation and COVID-19.

Gut bacteria tied to disease severity, immune response; high mental health toll seen in ICUs
https://news.yahoo.com/gut-bacteria-tied-disease-severity-204303033.html

Gut bacteria tied to COVID-19 severity, immune response

"The microscopic organisms living in our intestines may influence the severity of COVID-19 and the body's immune response to it, and could account for lingering symptoms, researchers reported on Monday in the journal Gut. They found that the gut microorganisms in COVID-19 patients were very different from those in uninfected individuals. "COVID patients lack certain good bacteria known to regulate our immune system," said Dr. Siew Ng of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The presence of an abnormal assortment of gut bacteria, or "dysbiosis," persists after the virus is gone and could play a role in the long-lasting symptoms that plague some patients, she said. Her team has developed an oral formula of live bacteria known as probiotics and a special capsule to protect the organisms until they reach the gut. "Compared with patients on standard care, our pilot clinical study showed that more COVID patients who received our microbiome immunity formula achieved complete symptom resolution," Ng said, adding that those who got it had significantly reduced markers for inflammation in their blood, increased favorable bacteria in their stool and they developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus
."
« Last Edit: January 18, 2021, 10:21:05 PM by Muon »

Clues

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Wow, this is super interesting. Thanks for posting.

EDIT: Just thought I'd add my story as some anecdotal evidence of a gut link.

Gut problems has been one of the major symptoms for me for at least two decades. Gas, slimy/viscous stool, feeling of always having to go number 2 even when I don't. Intolerance of a vast number of foods. It's been there regardless of orgasm but orgasm has made it worse (along with triggering the typical POIS symptoms).

My gut is way better than it used to be after I started an MCAS-friendly diet (avoiding histamine and histamine triggers), as well as supplementing with Berberine which was a huge help to my gut. Also supplementing with Chlorella as I suspect a mercury issue. My reaction after orgasm is definitely better. I'd say all symptoms are roughly 50% reduced compared with 6 months ago or so.

Of course, I don't know if the gut problems are symptoms or the root cause. But just thought I'd mention my gut feeling. (Cough.)
« Last Edit: January 19, 2021, 06:46:21 AM by Clues »

demografx

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...just thought I'd mention my gut feeling. (Cough.)


;D ;D
10 years of significant POIS-reduction, treatment consisting of daily (365 days/year) testosterone patches.

TRT must be checked out carefully with your doctor due to fertility, cardiac and other risks.

40+ years of severe 4-days-POIS, married, raised a family, started/ran a business

Quantum

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Wow, this is super interesting. Thanks for posting.

EDIT: Just thought I'd add my story as some anecdotal evidence of a gut link.

Gut problems has been one of the major symptoms for me for at least two decades. Gas, slimy/viscous stool, feeling of always having to go number 2 even when I don't. Intolerance of a vast number of foods. It's been there regardless of orgasm but orgasm has made it worse (along with triggering the typical POIS symptoms).

My gut is way better than it used to be after I started an MCAS-friendly diet (avoiding histamine and histamine triggers), as well as supplementing with Berberine which was a huge help to my gut. Also supplementing with Chlorella as I suspect a mercury issue. My reaction after orgasm is definitely better. I'd say all symptoms are roughly 50% reduced compared with 6 months ago or so.

Of course, I don't know if the gut problems are symptoms or the root cause. But just thought I'd mention my gut feeling. (Cough.)
Great news, Clues !  50% improvement is already a huge gain in quality of life !  I wish you better still in 2021 :)

In my book, liver health and gut health are definitively good allies to improve anybody's condition, including POIS sufferers, and we have more and more testimonies here to prove it.  No wonder there is a diet section in my POIS Chart, at #7 ( http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=2338.msg19448#msg19448 ).
You are 100% responsible for what you do with anything I post on this forum and of any consequence it could have for you.  Forum rule: ""Do not use POISCenter as a substitute for, or to give, medical advice" Read the remaining part at http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=1.msg10259#msg10259

Clues

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Great news, Clues !  50% improvement is already a huge gain in quality of life !  I wish you better still in 2021 :)

Thanks a lot Quantum! That really means a lot. Hoping for a great 2021 for you as well. I will post a more detailed report once I feel like I've gotten as well as I can based on my current measures.

Since I'm taking multiple measures at once (diet, stress management, detox) it's impossible to say which plays the biggest role. Would have loved to know.