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Observational Study
. 2025 Feb 18;13(1):e004727.
doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2024-004727.

Alterations of hepatic lipid content following COVID-19 in persons with type 2 diabetes

Yuliya Kupriyanova #  1   2 , Iryna Yurchenko #  1   2 , Pavel Bobrov  2   3 , Frederik Bartels  1   2 , Stefan Wierichs  1   2 , Marc Jonuscheit  1   2 , Benedict Korzekwa  1   2 , Katsiaryna Prystupa  1   2 , Martin Schön  1   2 , Dania Mendez  1   2 , Sandra Trenkamp  1   2 , Volker Burkart  1   2 , Robert Wagner  1   2   4 , Vera Schrauwen-Hinderling  1   2   5 , Michael Roden  6   2   4 ; German Diabetes Study (GDS) Group
Collaborators, Affiliations
Observational Study

Alterations of hepatic lipid content following COVID-19 in persons with type 2 diabetes

Yuliya Kupriyanova et al. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. .

Abstract

Introduction: The study aimed to assess the effect of COVID-19 on hepatic lipid (HL) content, fibrosis risk, and adiposity in persons with type 2 diabetes.

Research design and methods: Participants with type 2 diabetes with a history of mild COVID-19 (n=15, age 58±12 years, body mass index 30.9±5.2 kg/m2) were examined before (baseline) and 1 year (12±2 months) after (follow-up) recovery from COVID-19. Investigations for changes in metabolic risk comprised clinical examination, fasting blood sampling and MR-based measurements. Potential changes were corrected with the time course of the respective parameters in a group of participants who did not contract COVID-19 over the same time course (n=14, 61±6 years, 30.0±4.6 kg/m2).

Results: COVID-19 resulted in a relative increase in HL content of 56% (95% CI 18%, 106%; p=0.04) measured as proton density fat fraction (HL-PDFF), corrected for the time course in the absence of COVID-19. While no changes in hepatic stiffness and volume, intramyocellular lipids, whole-body, subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue volumes as well as homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and beta-cell function were observed.

Conclusions: History of COVID-19 in persons with type 2 diabetes is associated with higher HL-PDFF after 1 year following recovery from infection.

Trial registration number: NCT01055093.

Keywords: COVID-19; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: MR received fees consulting, lecturing or serving on advisory boards from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Echosens, Eli Lilly, Merck-MSD, Madrigal, Novo Nordisk, and Target RWE and has performed investigator-initiated research with support from Boehringer Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk and Nutricia/Danone to DDZ. MR's research is supported by grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG; RTG/GRK 2576), the European Community (HORIZON-HLTH-2022-STAYHLTH-02-01: panel A) to the INTERCEPT-T2D consortium, BMG, MKW, BMBF and the Schmutzler-Stiftung.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Recruitment flow diagram. GDS, German Diabetes Study; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Figure 2
Figure 2. (A) Effect of history of COVID-19 on HL-PDFF. (B) Prevalence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) in the studied groups based on HL-PDFF measurements. Unadjusted values of HL-PDFF are shown as mean±SD. *P≤0.05, indicating significance level for effect of COVID-19, corrected for the time course in the absence of COVID-19, based on analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with adjustment for changes in body mass index (BMI), the time interval between the baseline and the follow-up visits, and the baseline value of the respective parameter. BL, baseline; FU, follow-up; HL-PDFF, hepatic lipid content measured as proton density fat fraction; ns, non-significant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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