PATHOMORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT PATHOLOGY IN PATIENTS INFECTED WITH CORONAVIRUS DISEASE

The experience of combating the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of consistently applying these stages. Certainly, studying the genetic characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the large-scale implementation of immunoprophylaxis complement the effectiveness of epidemic control measures. However, even their combination does not fully resolve the set of problems associated with the continued spread of the novel coro­navirus infection (COVID-19). At the same time, increasing attention is being given to the study of the intestinal microbial-tissue complex, as well as pathogenetic changes along the “gut–lung” functional axis associated with dis­turbances in intestinal microbiota and intestinal permeability.

In the present study, the gastrointestinal tract tissues were examined during autopsies of patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus infection. The morphological features of changes in the intestinal mucosa after coronavirus infection were manifested by the presence of loose fibrous connective tissue in the surface epithelium of glandular structures of the mucosa, occasional distribution of intraepithelial lymphocytes, atrophic changes of MALT structures in some cases, and the presence of reduced-volume glandular epithelia in the interstitial stroma.