In 2020, medical professionals in the city of New York, then the source of the US pandemic, noticed high blood sugar levels in the blood of a significant number of COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital. As hyperglycemia, which is a characteristic of diabetes.
Shuibing Chen, a stem cell biologist at Weill Cornell Medicine, and her colleagues found it difficult to control blood sugar levels in some COVID-19 patients. National Geographic report.
Even more surprising was that some patients who did not have diabetes before being infected with COVID-19 developed new diabetes after recovery from COVID infection.
The COVID-19 virus is known to attack the lungs and cause acute respiratory distress. However, it remains a mystery why COVID-19 patients suddenly develop chronic illnesses such as diabetes.
(Photo: Fariha Faruki / Getty Images)
Studies show that nearly 15% of severely ill COVID-19 patients also develop diabetes, and researchers say the number is likely to increase among high-risk individuals, such as prediabetes.
Likely to develop diabetes
In a global analysis conducted in 2020 and led by Tirna Buccaras Satish, a population health researcher at McMaster University based in Canada, nearly 15% of patients with severe COVID-19 infection also developed diabetes. It turns out. Sathish said this number is likely to increase among high-risk individuals, such as those with a history of diabetes.
Another study, published in 2021, found that of the 551 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in Italy, nearly half had hyperglycemia or elevated blood glucose levels, an indicator of diabetes. Is shown. The study was led by endocrinologist Paolo Fiorina of Harvard Medical School.
Peter Jackson, a biochemist at Stanford University School of Medicine, believes that “30 percent of patients” with severe COVID-19 are more likely to develop diabetes.
Intrigued by the link between COVID-19 and diabetes, Chen and Jackson conducted an independent study showing how COVID-19 infection causes hyperglycemia.
Rita Kalyani, an associate professor of medicine in the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Johns Hopkins University, said both studies could lead to the development of new diabetes in patients infected with the virus. It provides important insights into the mechanism. Hopkins. She was not part of the two studies.
Pancreas, another COVID-19 target
COVID-19 affects people in many ways. Many people experience mild symptoms, while others develop serious and life-threatening illnesses.
COVID-19 can spread outside the lungs and damage other important organs such as the heart, kidneys, and liver. Diabetes and obesity are common risk factors for severe COVID-19 infections.
In a previous study, Chen’s team grew different types of tissue in the laboratory and tested which tissues were susceptible to the virus. She found that pancreatic beta cells were very susceptible to COVID-19 infection.
The pancreas, an organ that aids digestion, is made up of many cell types.It It contains beta cells that make insulin. Insulin is a hormone that carries sugar molecules from the blood to cells in the body and uses them as energy.
Insulin production nullification
Both studies have shown that beta cells stop producing insulin when infected with SARS-Cov-2. COVID-19 (New Coronavirus Infection)..
In Jackson’s study, infected beta cells died from apoptosis, a genetically programmed self-destructive sequence initiated by damaged cells.
Meanwhile, Chen’s team discovered that infected beta cells underwent a process known as “transdifferentiation.”
When the virus attacks the beta cells of the pancreas, it reduces insulin production, a condition that can lead to diabetes.
Compounds identified as Integrated Stress Response InhiBitor or trans-ISRIB helped maintain their identity as well as their ability to produce insulin when beta cells become infected with COVID-19.
As explained by trans-ISRIB Tocriss BioscienceIs a compound detected in 2013 that can interfere with the normal response of cells to stress. Such compounds are currently being studied to look for potential therapies in the prevention and treatment of apoptosis.
For more information on the link between COVID-19 and diabetes, see the NDTV YouTubd video below.
Related article: Strategies to reduce indoor diffusion of COVID-19 revealed in airflow research
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