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
. 2023 Jul;37(4):101752.
doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2023.101752. Epub 2023 Feb 27.

Pituitary and SARS CoV-2: An unremitting conundrum

Cristina Capatina  1 , Catalina Poiana  1 , Maria Fleseriu  2
Affiliations
Review

Pituitary and SARS CoV-2: An unremitting conundrum

Cristina Capatina et al. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

There is increased interest related to the impact of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) on the endocrine system and in particular on the pituitary gland. Over the course of the severe infection with acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), there are both acute and delayed effects on the pituitary, related to infection and/or treatment. Hypopituitarism, pituitary apoplexy and hypophysitis have been all reported, as well as arginine vasopressin deficiency (diabetes insipidus) and syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion. Furthermore, patients with acromegaly, Cushing's disease and hypopituitarism are theoretically at increased risk of complications with COVID-19 and require close monitoring. Evidence regarding pituitary dysfunction in patients with COVID-19 continues to be gathered, as the breadth and depth of knowledge also continues to rapidly evolve. This review summarizes data analysis to date on the possible effects of COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccination on patients with normal pituitary function and patients with known pituitary pathology. Though clinical systems were significantly affected, it seems there is no overall loss of biochemical control in patients with certain pituitary pathologies.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cushing’s; SARS-CoV-2 infection; acromegaly; hypopituitarism; pituitary.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures The authors have no conflict of interest(s) to report regarding this topic.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Potential COVID-19-related dysfunctions of the anterior and posterior pituitary (putative mechanisms and consequences).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Fleseriu M., Dekkers O.M., Karavitaki N. Endocrinology in the time of COVID-19: management of pituitary tumours. Eur J Endocrinol. 2020;183(1):G17–G23. doi: 10.1530/EJE-20-0473. PubMed PMID: 32369770; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC7938006. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hoffmann M., Kleine-Weber H., Schroeder S., et al. SARS-CoV-2 cell entry depends on ACE2 and TMPRSS2 and is blocked by a clinically proven protease inhibitor. Cell. 2020;181(2):271–80 e8. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.02.052. PubMed PMID: 32142651; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC7102627. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li M.Y., Li L., Zhang Y., et al. Expression of the SARS-CoV-2 cell receptor gene ACE2 in a wide variety of human tissues. Infect Dis Poverty. 2020;9(1):45. doi: 10.1186/s40249-020-00662-x. PubMed PMID: 32345362; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC7186534. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Han T., Kang J., Li G., et al. Analysis of 2019-nCoV receptor ACE2 expression in different tissues and its significance study. Ann Transl Med. 2020;8(17):1077. doi: 10.21037/atm-20-4281. PubMed PMID: 33145296; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC7576005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mirza S.A., Sheikh A.A.E., Barbera M., et al. COVID-19 and the endocrine system: a review of the current information and misinformation. Infect Dis Rep. 2022;14(2):184–197. doi: 10.3390/idr14020023. PubMed PMID: 35314653; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPMC8938795. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Substances