Petakh P. SARS-CoV-2-induced changes in gut microbiota and lymphocyte immunometabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes

The dissertation is dedicated to the study of changes in the gut microbiota and the functional state of lymphocytes in patients with COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The dissertation is to identify distinctive changes in the gut microbiota of patients with both COVID-19 and T2D undergoing metformin or antibiotic therapy, revealing alterations in the abundance of individual genera as well as shifts in alpha diversity indices. The study established novel correlations between the abundances of individual microbial genera and alpha diversity indices with inflammatory biomarkers like CRP and NLR. Additionally, the research demonstrated that while the presence of T2D in COVID-19 patients didn't significantly impact the alpha diversity of the gut microbiota, patients with T2D and COVID-19 who underwent antibiotic therapy and metformin exhibited noteworthy differences in alpha diversity indices compared to those without antibiotic therapy. Moreover, the research highlighted the higher F/B ratio in patients with both COVID-19 and T2D in contrast to patients with only COVID-19 and without T2D, along with the correlations between this ratio and CRP levels. Furthermore, the investigation explored changes in the transcriptional activity of PRKAA1, SLC2A1, and MTOR genes in patients with both COVID-19 and T2D. It was observed that antibacterial therapy did not influence the gene expression of these genes. Patients with COVID-19 and T2D receiving insulin therapy demonstrated decreased PRKAA1 gene expression and increased SLC2A1 and MTOR gene expression. The administration of metformin resulted in increased PRKAA1 gene expression but decreased expression levels of SLC2A1 and MTOR genes. Correlations were established between the expression levels of these genes and inflammatory biomarkers (NLR, CRP, and procalcitonin), suggesting a potential influence of these genes on the course of COVID-19 in patients with T2D.