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Review
. 2022 Aug 26;10(9):2089.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10092089.

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and COVID-19: A Narrative Review

Cristina Rey-Reñones  1   2   3 , Sara Martinez-Torres  2 , Francisco M Martín-Luján  1   2   3 , Carles Pericas  4 , Ana Redondo  5 , Carles Vilaplana-Carnerero  4   6 , Angela Dominguez  4   7 , María Grau  7   8   9
Affiliations
Review

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and COVID-19: A Narrative Review

Cristina Rey-Reñones et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

Type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder. The incidence and prevalence of patients with T2DM are increasing worldwide, even reaching epidemic values in most high- and middle-income countries. T2DM could be a risk factor of developing complications in other diseases. Indeed, some studies suggest a bidirectional interaction between T2DM and COVID-19. A growing body of evidence shows that COVID-19 prognosis in individuals with T2DM is worse compared with those without. Moreover, various studies have reported the emergence of newly diagnosed patients with T2DM after SARS-CoV-2 infection. The most common treatments for T2DM may influence SARS-CoV-2 and their implication in infection is briefly discussed in this review. A better understanding of the link between TD2M and COVID-19 could proactively identify risk factors and, as a result, develop strategies to improve the prognosis for these patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; antidiabetic treatment; bidirectional link; epidemiology; type-2 diabetes mellitus.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Estimated number of adults with diabetes (20–79 years) in the top 10 countries worldwide in (A) 2019, (B) 2030 and (C) 2045. Data for this figure is obtained from Mathers et al. [2].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Possible mechanisms behind adverse clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Adapted from Lim et al. [25].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Potential pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection underlying metabolic deregulation and homeostasis alteration. Adapted from Apicella et al. [51].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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