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 Feb 17:13:780663.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.780663. eCollection 2022.

Diabetes and COVID-19; A Bidirectional Interplay

Paraskevi Kazakou  1 , Vaia Lambadiari  2 , Ignatios Ikonomidis  3 , Aikaterini Kountouri  2 , Georgios Panagopoulos  1 , Stavros Athanasopoulos  1 , Eleni Korompoki  4 , Ioannis Kalomenidis  5 , Meletios A Dimopoulos  6 , Asimina Mitrakou  1
Affiliations
Review

Diabetes and COVID-19; A Bidirectional Interplay

Paraskevi Kazakou et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

There seems to be a bidirectional interplay between Diabetes mellitus (DM) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). On the one hand, people with diabetes are at higher risk of fatal or critical care unit-treated COVID-19 as well as COVID-19 related health complications compared to individuals without diabetes. On the other hand, clinical data so far suggest that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may result in metabolic dysregulation and in impaired glucose homeostasis. In addition, emerging data on new onset DM in previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 patients, reinforce the hypothesis of a direct effect of SARS-CoV-2 on glucose metabolism. Attempting to find the culprit, we currently know that the pancreas and the endothelium have been found to express Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors, the main binding site of the virus. To move from bench to bedside, understanding the effects of COVID-19 on metabolism and glucose homeostasis is crucial to prevent and manage complications related to COVID-19 and support recovering patients. In this article we review the potential underlying pathophysiological mechanisms between COVID-19 and glucose dysregulation as well as the effects of antidiabetic treatment in patients with diabetes and COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; antidiabetic medication; diabetes; endothelial (dys)function; new onset diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

    1. Li B, Yang J, Zhao F, Zhi L, Wang X, Liu L, et al. . Prevalence and Impact of Cardiovascular Metabolic Diseases on COVID-19 in China. Clin Res Cardiol (2020) 109(5):531–8. doi: 10.1007/s00392-020-01626-9 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hill MA, Mantzoros C, Sowers JR. Commentary: COVID-19 in Patients With Diabetes. Metab Clin Exp (2020) 107:154217. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154217 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Klonoff DC, Umpierrez GE. Letter to the Editor: COVID-19 in Patients With Diabetes: Risk Factors That Increase Morbidity. Metab Clin Exp (2020) 108:154224. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2020.154224 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chow N, Fleming-Dutra K, Gierke R, Hall A, Hughes M, Pilishvili T, et al. . Preliminary Estimates of the Prevalence of Selected Underlying Health Conditions Among Patients With COVID-19 - US, February 12-March 28, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep (2020) 69(13):382–6. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6913e2 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wu Z, McGoogan JM. Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA (2020) 323(13):1239–42. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.2648 - DOI - PubMed