Bifidobacterium Against COVID-19: A Mother and Her Newborn’s Gut Microbiome

TL;DR

This case report explores how vitamin supplementation in a mother with COVID-19 may have influenced her and her newborn's gut microbiomes, particularly increasing Bifidobacterium levels.

Contribution

The study uniquely examines the gut microbiome of a mother and newborn with concurrent COVID-19, linking vitamin supplementation to increased Bifidobacterium levels.

Findings

The mother's Bifidobacterium levels increased from 1.5% to 19% after vitamin C supplementation during COVID-19.

The newborn's Bifidobacterium levels steadily increased regardless of infection status.

Vitamin C, D, and zinc supplementation may have altered disease outcomes by boosting gut microbiome health.

Abstract

Several treatments and preventive measures for SARS-CoV-2 were studied during the pandemic, but few focused on the neonatal gut microbiome and its role in the setting of COVID-19. This case report is unique because it describes the gut microbiomes of a mother and her newborn, who both contracted COVID-19 shortly after the baby’s birth. In this prospective study, on day 11 postpartum, both the newborn and mother (38 years old), of white race/ethnicity, were exposed to a COVID-19-positive person. After exposure, the mother received a 40,000 IU bolus of vitamin D orally and started a five-day course of high-dose vitamin C (10,000 mg daily), after which she continued her daily combination of vitamins C, D, and zinc pill with probiotic skyr yogurt and manuka honey. Stool specimens and DNA were extracted, quantitated, and normalized from the mother and the newborn for downstream library fabrication utilizing shotgun methodology. Baseline Bifidobacteria level for the mother was 1.5% which increased to 19% on day 15 postpartum after testing positive for COVID-19 and taking vitamin C. Neonatal Bifidobacteriasteadily increased regardless of COVID-19 infection. We propose that the disease course was altered by maternal supplementation of vitamins C and D and zinc, which may have increased Bifidobacterium levels and led to improved outcomes for both patients.

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