Working with human stem cells that form a kind of "mini intestine-in-a-dish," Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have found several molecular mechanisms for COVID-19-related diarrhea, suggesting potential ways to control it. Details of the experiments in a model of human intestinal tissue, called enteroids, are described on July 30 in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology . Along with the unpleasant aches, fever, sore throat, cough, respiratory distress and other symptoms that may accompany COVID-19 infection, up to half of people who get the virus will experience diarrhea.
Some 30% of them will go on to develop long COVID, a persistent infection marked by debilitating symptoms, including chronic pain , brain fog, shortness of breath, chest pain and intense fatigue. While COVID-19 diarrhea is not life-threatening like cholera, it can often predict a severe case and also who gets the long covid syndrome." Mark Donowitz, M.
D., Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Physiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Some aspects of COVID-19 diarrhea have been determined, including that ACE2, an enzyme to which the virus attaches, and TMPRSS2, an enzyme that allows the virus to enter cells, are present in the intestine. Until now, the mechanisms were not understood, and this research creates a more complete picture of the mechanisms that could lead to potential treatments.
In an effort to determine the mechanism by which COVID-19 diarrhea occurred, Donow.