RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Western diet increases COVID-19 disease severity in the Syrian hamster
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.06.17.448814
DO 10.1101/2021.06.17.448814
A1 Julia R. Port
A1 Danielle R. Adney
A1 Benjamin Schwarz
A1 Jonathan E. Schulz
A1 Daniel E. Sturdevant
A1 Brian J. Smith
A1 Victoria A. Avanzato
A1 Myndi G. Holbrook
A1 Jyothi N. Purushotham
A1 Kaitlin A. Stromberg
A1 Ian Leighton
A1 Catharine M. Bosio
A1 Carl Shaia
A1 Vincent J. Munster
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/06/17/2021.06.17.448814.abstract
AB 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 StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.