The study involved 271 patients (132 men and 139 women) with moderate COVID-19. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in erythrocytes was measured spectrophotometrically. In total group of patients (divided into age groups of 18-35, 36-45, 46-60, and 61-90 years), higher SOD activity was found in the 18-35 age group in comparison with the groups 46-60 years ( p <0.01) and 61-90 years ( p <0.05). Then, the groups were additionally divided by sex. In men, no differences in enzyme activity were found between the age groups. In women of early reproductive age, SOD activity was higher than in groups 36-45, 46-60, and 61-90 years. The sex differences consisted in higher SOD activity in women aged 18-35 years in comparison with men of this age. These data should be taken into account when choosing the tactics of therapy for patients with moderate COVID-19 course.

The microbiota of the respiratory tract remains a relatively poorly studied subject. At the same time, like the intestinal microbiota, it is involved in modulating the immune response to infectious agents in the host organism. A causal relationship between the composition of the respiratory microbiota and the likelihood of development and the severity of COVID-19 may be hypothesized. We analyze biomaterial from nasopharyngeal smears from 336 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, selected during the first and second waves of the epidemic in Russia. Sequences from a similar study conducted in Spain were also included in the analysis. We investigated associations between disease severity and microbiota at the level of microbial community (community types) and individual microbes (differentially represented species). To search for associations, we performed multivariate analysis, taking into account comorbidities, type of community and lineage of the virus. We found that two out of six community types are associated with a more severe course of the disease, and one of the community types is characterized by high stability (very similar microbiota profiles in different patients) and low level of lung damage. Differential abundance analysis with respect to comorbidities and community type suggested association of Rothia and Streptococcus genera representatives with more severe lung damage, and Leptotrichia, unclassified Lachnospiraceae and Prevotella with milder forms of the disease.

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