1. Analysis of the nasopharyngeal microbiome and respiratory pathogens in COVID-19 patients from Saudi Arabia
- Author
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Muhammad Yasir, Hessa A. Al-Sharif, Tagreed Al-Subhi, Anees A. Sindi, Diyaa H. Bokhary, Mai M. El-Daly, Bandar Alosaimi, Maaweya E. Hamed, Asad Mustafa Karim, Ahmed M. Hassan, Mustafa M. AlShawdari, Maha Alawi, Sherif A. El-Kafrawy, and Esam I. Azhar
- Subjects
COVID-19 ,Nasopharyngeal microbiome ,16S amplicon ,Secondary infection ,Saudi Arabia ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Background: Infection with SARS-CoV-2 may perturb normal microbiota, leading to secondary infections that can complicate the viral disease. The aim of this study was to probe the alteration of nasopharyngeal (NP) microbiota in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection and obesity and to identify other respiratory pathogens among COVID-19 cases that may affect patients’ health. Methods: A total of 107 NP swabs, including 22 from control subjects and 85 from COVID-19 patients, were processed for 6S amplicon sequencing. The respiratory pathogens causing secondary infections were identified by RT-PCR assay, using a kit that contained specific primers and probes combinations to amplify 33 known respiratory pathogens. Results: No significant (p > 0.05) difference was observed in the alpha and beta diversity analysis, but specific taxa differed significantly between the control and COVID-19 patient groups. Genera of Sphingomonas, Kurthia, Microbacterium, Methylobacterium, Brevibacillus, Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Lactococcus, and Haemophilus was significantly abundant (p
- Published
- 2023
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