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Western diet increases COVID-19 disease severity in the Syrian hamster

Julia R. Port, Danielle R. Adney, Benjamin Schwarz, Jonathan E. Schulz, Daniel E. Sturdevant, Brian J. Smith, Victoria A. Avanzato, Myndi G. Holbrook, Jyothi N. Purushotham, Kaitlin A. Stromberg, Ian Leighton, Catharine M. Bosio, Carl Shaia, View ORCID ProfileVincent J. Munster
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.17.448814
Julia R. Port
1Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Danielle R. Adney
1Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Benjamin Schwarz
2Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Jonathan E. Schulz
1Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Daniel E. Sturdevant
3Genomics Unit, Research Technologies Branch, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Brian J. Smith
4Rocky Mountain Veterinary Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Victoria A. Avanzato
1Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Myndi G. Holbrook
1Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Jyothi N. Purushotham
1Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Kaitlin A. Stromberg
2Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Ian Leighton
2Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Catharine M. Bosio
2Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Carl Shaia
4Rocky Mountain Veterinary Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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Vincent J. Munster
1Laboratory of Virology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
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  • ORCID record for Vincent J. Munster
  • For correspondence: vincent.munster@nih.gov
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Summary

Pre-existing comorbidities such as obesity or metabolic diseases can adversely affect the clinical outcome of COVID-19. Chronic metabolic disorders are globally on the rise and often a consequence of an unhealthy diet, referred to as a Western Diet. For the first time in the Syrian hamster model, we demonstrate the detrimental impact of a continuous high-fat high-sugar diet on COVID-19 outcome. We observed increased weight loss and lung pathology, such as exudate, vasculitis, hemorrhage, fibrin, and edema, delayed viral clearance and functional lung recovery, and prolonged viral shedding. This was accompanied by an increased trend of systemic IL-10 and IL-6, as well as a dysregulated serum lipid response dominated by polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing phosphatidylethanolamine, recapitulating cytokine and lipid responses associated with severe human COVID-19. Our data support the hamster model for testing restrictive or targeted diets and immunomodulatory therapies to mediate the adverse effects of metabolic disease on COVID-19.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. This article is a US Government work. It is not subject to copyright under 17 USC 105 and is also made available for use under a CC0 license.
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Posted June 17, 2021.
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Western diet increases COVID-19 disease severity in the Syrian hamster
Julia R. Port, Danielle R. Adney, Benjamin Schwarz, Jonathan E. Schulz, Daniel E. Sturdevant, Brian J. Smith, Victoria A. Avanzato, Myndi G. Holbrook, Jyothi N. Purushotham, Kaitlin A. Stromberg, Ian Leighton, Catharine M. Bosio, Carl Shaia, Vincent J. Munster
bioRxiv 2021.06.17.448814; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.17.448814
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Western diet increases COVID-19 disease severity in the Syrian hamster
Julia R. Port, Danielle R. Adney, Benjamin Schwarz, Jonathan E. Schulz, Daniel E. Sturdevant, Brian J. Smith, Victoria A. Avanzato, Myndi G. Holbrook, Jyothi N. Purushotham, Kaitlin A. Stromberg, Ian Leighton, Catharine M. Bosio, Carl Shaia, Vincent J. Munster
bioRxiv 2021.06.17.448814; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.17.448814

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