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Review
. 2022 Apr:186:109813.
doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2022.109813. Epub 2022 Mar 3.

Diabetes and COVID-19: The potential role of mTOR

B Pinchera  1 , R Scotto  2 , A R Buonomo  2 , E Zappulo  2 , F Stagnaro  2 , A Gallicchio  2 , G Viceconte  2 , A Sardanelli  2 , S Mercinelli  2 , R Villari  2 , M Foggia  2 , I Gentile  2 ; Federico II COVID Team  2
Affiliations
Review

Diabetes and COVID-19: The potential role of mTOR

B Pinchera et al. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Diabetes is the most frequent comorbidity among patients with COVID-19. COVID-19 patients with diabetes have a more severe prognosis than patients without diabetes. However, the etiopathogenetic mechanisms underlying this more unfavorable outcome in these patients are not clear. Probably the etiopathogenetic mechanisms underlying diabetes could represent a favorable substrate for a greater development of the inflammatory process already dysregulated in COVID-19 with a more severe evolution of the disease. In the attempt to shed light on the possible etiopathogenetic mechanisms, we wanted to evaluate the possible role of mTOR (mammalian Target Of Rapamycin) pathway in this context. We searched the PubMed and Scopus databases to identify articles involving diabetes and the mTOR pathway in COVID-19. The mTOR pathway could be involved in this etiopathogenetic mechanism, in particular, the activation and stimulation of this pathway could favor an inflammatory process that is already dysregulated in itself, while its inhibition could be a way to regulate this dysregulated inflammatory process. However, much remains to be clarified about the mechanisms of the mTOR pathway and its role in COVID-19. The aim of this review is to to understand the etiopathogenesis underlying COVID-19 in diabetic patients and the role of mTOR pathway in order to be able to search for new weapons to deal with this disease.

Keywords: COVID-19; Diabetes; SARS-CoV-2; mTOR.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Metformin and mTOR pathway.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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