COVID-19 and microbiome: Danone funds research examining US healthcare workers

22 Oct 2020 --- Danone North America and its probiotic brand Activia are funding a “first-of-its-kind investigation” to explore the link between the oral and gut microbiome and the severity of COVID-19. 

Conducted at Rutgers University, the new microbiome study is part of a series of clinical trials of US healthcare workers exposed to COVID-19 – one of the nation’s largest prospective studies on the topic.

The investigation aims to determine if virus-exposed healthcare workers’ pre-COVID-19 microbiome is a predictor of COVID-19 infection severity. It will also assess how the novel coronavirus impacts the health of the microbiome.

Lead investigator Dr. Martin Blaser, director of Rutgers University’s Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, tells NutritionInsight that this knowledge could one day lead to new probiotics, although that it is not part of the immediate study.

“We may be able to understand what is happening in the microbiome to determine the possibility of harnessing some of those organisms as new probiotics. We could also look at the metabolites to develop a pre- and probiotic strategy,” Dr. Miguel Freitas, vice president of scientific affairs at Danone North America, also shares with NutritionInsight.

Freitas states that certain probiotics and prebiotics have been shown to help promote healthy gut bacteria. They can also nourish the gut microbiome and support both digestive health and the immune system.

Specifically, Freitas further underlines that the research may offer three valuable insights:

• How the microbiome status can predict the ability to produce an immune response to COVID-19.
• How dietary intervention can act as a COVID-19-management strategy, including treatment and prevention.
• How certain probiotics and prebiotics might be able to favorably change the microbiome.

The study is still in progress and results are expected to be published in mid-2021.Does the microbiome differ per infection?
Blaser’s research team will follow 850 healthcare workers who are frequently exposed to COVID-19, including 10 percent that have already tested positive for the novel coronavirus. 

He underscores that his cohort study does not aim to create a probiotic to treat COVID-19 and Danone’s products are not being used in the study.

“The goal is to determine whether the microbiome differs in people with and without [the virus] and, for those with COVID-19, [to establish if] the microbiome before becoming infected differs according to the severity of the illness.”

“Because the pandemic is affecting our hospitals as we are providing care at the frontlines, we may be able to discover what puts people at greatest risk for acquiring the infection,” he adds. 

Their research will include possibly determining why most get a mild illness, but some become severely ill.

In terms of research obstacles, Blaser states the complexity of the microbiome is always a challenge. “We will use a variety of analytical methods, including informatics programs, to resolve that.” 

Blaser aims to use a variety of analytical methods to resolve “the complexity of the microbiome.”Danone’s funding for gut knowledge
“A century [after its founding], Danone continues to place probiotics and the gut microbiome at the core of its health strategy. For Danone, it’s imperative to support scientists with a shared interest in the microbiome,” Freitas highlights.

In May, Danone’s nutrition health arm Nutricia granted US$1.1 million for global nutrition research in COVID-19 patients recovering after intensive care unit (ICU) discharge.

Earlier this year, Danone also pushed for the on-pack nutrition labeling Nutri-Score to be rolled across the EU as the pandemic has deepened nutritional rifts.

The viruses to come
According to the World Health Organization, the US has passed the eight million COVID-19 case mark – ranging from mild to severe symptoms. It has caused over 218,000 deaths in the country. These numbers are motivating researchers to narrow down the factors that could predict the severity of the disease. 

“What we learn about COVID-19 will help us for the next [virus] or another infection.”In the field of probiotics, ADM Biopolis launched a clinical trial at the Hospital de Sagunto, Spain, into the effects of administering the company’s live probiotic strains on COVID-19 patients. The trial began in late March and aimed to promote gut microbiome balance to improve health functions related to outcomes for COVID-19 patients in high-risk groups.

Meanwhile, a US clinical trial in June began an investigation of DSM’s probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG in households exposed to COVID-19. The researchers anticipated that it could directly reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and severity of COVID-19 disease and symptoms in household contacts and caregivers of known coronavirus patients.

“COVID-19 is going to be a problem for some time. Even after the arrival of vaccines, it will take some time to give [the vaccine] to everyone and there will be some who won’t want to get vaccinated. What we learn about COVID-19 will help us for the next [virus] or another infection,” Blaser concludes.

By Anni Schleicher