Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jan 13;23(2):864.
doi: 10.3390/ijms23020864.

Consequences of COVID-19 for the Pancreas

Urszula Abramczyk  1 , Maciej Nowaczyński  2 , Adam Słomczyński  2 , Piotr Wojnicz  2 , Piotr Zatyka  2 , Aleksandra Kuzan  1
Affiliations
Review

Consequences of COVID-19 for the Pancreas

Urszula Abramczyk et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related major health consequences involve the lungs, a growing body of evidence indicates that COVID-19 is not inert to the pancreas either. This review presents a summary of the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of pancreatic dysfunction during the course of COVID-19, the comparison of the effects of non-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on pancreatic function, and a summary of how drugs used in COVID-19 treatment may affect this organ. It appears that diabetes is not only a condition that predisposes a patient to suffer from more severe COVID-19, but it may also develop as a consequence of infection with this virus. Some SARS-CoV-2 inpatients experience acute pancreatitis due to direct infection of the tissue with the virus or due to systemic multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) accompanied by elevated levels of amylase and lipase. There are also reports that reveal a relationship between the development and treatment of pancreatic cancer and SARS-CoV-2 infection. It has been postulated that evaluation of pancreatic function should be increased in post-COVID-19 patients, both adults and children.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; diabetes; pancreas.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

    1. Zhang S.F., Tuo J.L., Huang X.B., Zhu X., Zhang D.M., Zhou K., Yuan L., Luo H.J., Zheng B.J., Yuen K.Y., et al. Epidemiology characteristics of human coronaviruses in patients with respiratory infection symptoms and phylogenetic analysis of HCoV-OC43 during 2010–2015 in Guangzhou. PLoS ONE. 2018;13:e0191789. doi: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0191789. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. De Wit E., Van Doremalen N., Falzarano D., Munster V.J. SARS and MERS: Recent insights into emerging coronaviruses. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2016;14:523–534. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro.2016.81. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zaki A.M., van Boheemen S., Bestebroer T.M., Osterhaus A.D.M.E., Fouchier R.A.M. Isolation of a Novel Coronavirus from a Man with Pneumonia in Saudi Arabia. N. Engl. J. Med. 2012;367:1814–1820. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1211721. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Song Z., Xu Y., Bao L., Zhang L., Yu P., Qu Y., Zhu H., Zhao W., Han Y., Qin C. From SARS to MERS, thrusting coronaviruses into the spotlight. Viruses. 2019;11:59. doi: 10.3390/v11010059. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shirato K., Kawase M., Matsuyama S. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection Mediated by the Transmembrane Serine Protease TMPRSS2. J. Virol. 2013;87:12552. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01890-13. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms