This new study, with the participation of Anders Sönnerborg and Marcus Buggert, was published in the npj Biofilms and Microbiomes journal, part of the prestigious Nature group.
The manuscript entitled “Impact of the gut microbiome on immunological responses to COVID-19 vaccination in healthy controls and people living with HIV”, investigates the influence of the gut microbiome in the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in immunocompromised individuals such as individuals living with HIV. It compares two groups included in the SARS-CoV-2 COVAXID vaccine cohort, individuals living with HIV and healthy controls. This cohort was initiated through an open-label, non-randomized clinical trial during spring 2021 at the Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
The authors observed that the “baseline gut microbiota diversity and abundance significantly affected immunologic responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, irrespective of age, gender, and total IgG.”, suggesting an association between the gut microbial diversity and composition and immunogenicity of a COVID-19 vaccine.
As stated by the authors, the study indicated that “these results pave the way for future studies, which could lead to a deeper understanding of microbiota modulation of vaccine responses in different populations and disease conditions.” and contribute to the development of microbiome-targeting therapies to enhance vaccine response in those individuals.
To read the manuscript go to: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-023-00461-w