The snapshot of metabolic health in evaluating micronutrient status, the risk of infection and clinical outcome of COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 has re-established the significance of analyzing the organism through a metabolic perspective to uncover the dynamic interconnections within the biological systems. The role of micronutrient status and metabolic health emerge as pivotal in COVID-19 pathogenesis and the immune system’s response. Metabolic disruption, proceeding from modifiable factors, has been proposed as a significant risk factor, accounting for infection susceptibility, disease severity and risk for post-COVID complications. Metabolomics, the comprehensive study and quantification of intermediates and products of metabolism, is a rapidly evolving field and a novel tool in biomarker discovery. In this article, we propose that leveraging insulin resistance biomarkers, along with biomarkers of micronutrient deficiencies, will allow for a diagnostic window and provide functional therapeutic targets. Specifically, metabolomics can be applied as: a. At-home test to assess the risk of infection and propose nutritional support, b. A screening tool for high-risk COVID-19 patients to develop serious illness during hospital admission and prioritize medical support, c(i). A tool to match nutritional support with specific nutrient requirements for mildly ill patients to reduce the risk for hospitalization, and c(ii). for critically ill patients to reduce recovery time and risk of post-COVID complications, d. At-home test to monitor metabolic health and reduce post-COVID symptomatology. Metabolic rewiring offers potential virtues towards disease prevention, dissection of high-risk patients, taking actionable therapeutic measures, as well as shielding against post-COVID syndrome.

Severe COVID-19 Is Characterised by Perturbations in Plasma Amines Correlated with Immune Response Markers, and Linked to Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

“…Next, the measured plasma cytokine IL-6 was utilised as a proxy for COVID-19 severity, reflecting the extent of the inflammatory response [27][28][29][30]. Considering the literature and the distribution of IL-6 levels in our cohort, patient samples were grouped as follows (in pg/mL): normal (<8), n = 18; low (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), n = 34; medium , n = 32; high (>45) n = 19, noting that no levels were recorded above 500 pg/mL, classified as "hyper-inflammation" [27,31]. The above classification did not fully overlap with the severity classification by hospitalisation status, as about 25 samples from non-recovered ward patients had medium-high IL-6 levels (Figure S2).…”

“…Complementary information on disease progression can be obtained from transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics analyses (targeted or untargeted). These technologies collectively revealed perturbations in the innate immune response, energy metabolism, and metabolism of lipids, amino acids, aminosugars, purines, and nucleotides [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. The metabolic alterations were related to the negative effects of inflammation and disruptions in energy production and hepatic function.…”

Oral Bacteriotherapy Reduces the Occurrence of Chronic Fatigue in COVID-19 Patients

“…As detected by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), which measures brain glucose metabolism, the hypometabolism of the frontal lobe may be involved in fatigue in patients with COVID-19 ( 34 ). Undeniably, in subjects with post-COVID-19 fatigue, the metabolic homeostasis is disturbed ( 35 , 36 ).…”

Integrated Fecal Microbiome and Metabolomics Reveals a Novel Potential Biomarker for Predicting Tibial Dyschondroplasia in Chickens

“…Therefore, some invasive diagnostic methods are not certainly the best choice in broilers, especially for diagnosing the TD broilers accompanied with sub-clinical symptoms. There is growing evidence that biomarker discovery is a key target for many microbiome and metabolome studies as they implicate potentials for developing sensitive, non-invasive, and scalable early diagnosis ( Tsoukalas et al, 2021 ; Zhu et al, 2021 ). Moreover, abnormal bone development or pathological bone loss is closely associated with alterations in microbiota composition ( Castaneda et al, 2020 ; Lu et al, 2021 ).…”