In a new study, researchers developed a probiotic formula that aims to target gut imbalance, thereby offering hope of boosting immunity against COVID-19 and other emerging viral infections.
The research was conducted by a team at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Gut microbiota, which is a fine balance between good and bad bacteria, regulates the immune system. Imbalance in gut microbiota (dysbiosis) will make us susceptible to infections.
Before the role of gut microbiota in COVID-19 was identified, the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China had already included the use of probiotics for the treatment of COVID-19 in January 2020.
However, currently available probiotic products have many limitations. For example, many probiotic bacteria are susceptible to gastric acid, high temperature, and humidity.
The shelf-life of many probiotic products is short. On top of that, not all kinds of probiotics can help enhance immunity. To date, there is an urgent unmet need to define the role of gut microbiota in COVID-19.
Previously, the team had discovered a series of good bacteria missing in the gut of COVID-19 patients.
The research team confirmed this discovery with a large number of healthy subjects and COVID-19 patients.
In the study, using big data analysis and machine learning, the research team successfully developed a probiotic formula that offering hope of boosting immunity against COVID-19.
From February to March this year, stool specimens were collected from 15 COVID-19 patients whose conditions ranged from mild to critically ill from the time of hospitalization until discharge.
The research team studied the microorganisms present in the patients’ guts and compared them with those from healthy individuals.
They further expanded the research scope and collected data on gut microbiome of 150 COVID-19 patients and 1,500 healthy individuals.
With the use of big data analysis, the team managed to come up with a probiotic formula that targets at gut dysbiosis derived from COVID-19 infections.
They anticipate that the formula will soon be turned into a probiotic supplement to the daily diet to improve immune defense against infection.
The team has applied for patents for the probiotic innovation in China and the U.S. and is now collaborating with innovation and technology companies and food companies to turn the formula into a probiotic supplement that can be added into the daily diet.
One author of the study is Professor Francis KL CHAN, Dean of CU Medicine and Director of the Centre for Gut Microbiota Research at CUHK.
The study is published in Gastroenterology.
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