Selected Grantee Publications
- Clear All
- 2 results found
- Rodent Models
- nhlbi
- COVID-19/Coronavirus
Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis in Antibiotic-Treated COVID-19 Patients Is Associated with Microbial Translocation and Bacteremia
Bernard-Raichon et al., Nature Communications. 2022.
https://www.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-33395-6
The investigators demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infection induced gut microbiome dysbiosis in male mice. Samples collected from human COVID-19 patients of both sexes also revealed substantial gut microbiome dysbiosis. Analysis of blood culture results testing for secondary microbial bloodstream infections with paired microbiome data indicated that bacteria might translocate from the gut into the systemic circulation of COVID-19 patients. These results were consistent with a direct role for gut microbiome dysbiosis in enabling dangerous secondary infections during COVID-19. Supported by ORIP (S10OD021747), NCI, NHLBI, NIAID, and NIDDK.
Lung Expression of Human Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Sensitizes the Mouse to SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Han et al., American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology. 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1165/rcmb.2020-0354OC
A rapidly deployable mouse model that recapitulates a disease caused by a novel pathogen would be a valuable research tool during a pandemic. Researchers were able to produce C57BL/6J mice with lung expression of human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2), the receptor for SARS-CoV-2. They did so by oropharyngeal delivery of a recombinant human adenovirus type 5 expressing hACE2. The transduced mice were then infected with SARS-CoV-2. Thereafter, the mice developed interstitial pneumonia with perivascular inflammation, exhibited higher viral load in lungs compared to controls, and displayed a gene expression phenotype resembling the clinical response in lungs of humans with COVID-19. Supported by ORIP (P51OD011104, R21OD024931), NHLBI, and NIGMS.