An international group of experts involved in the CoviDiab Registry project (covidiab.e-dendrite.com) recently communicated through a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported new-onset of diabetes in patients with COVID-19. The project aims to establish the extent and characteristics of new-onset, COVID-19-related diabetes.
Based on the clinical observation, It is a well-known fact that Diabetes is a key risk factor for the severity of COVID-19 and its fatality. Between 20-30% of people who died due to COVID-19 are with diabetes. However, increasing incidences of acute-onset of diabetes among patients with COVID-19, where many of them arrive in the hospital with severe levels of blood sugar and ketones. The sudden onset of diabetes in people with COVID-19 is something completely new. For example, the case of Gnadt, who have spontaneously developed diabetes after being infected with the virus.
In type 1 diabetes, β-cells in the pancreas that is responsible for producing the hormone insulin are attacked and destroyed by the body’s immune cells. But, It remains unclear how exactly the virus influences these processes. Previous research in pancreatic organoids showed that SARS-CoV-2 is capable of damaging α- and β-cells, eventually causing them to die. β-cells are responsible for producing insulin whereas, α-cells for the hormone glucagon. It also has been reported earlier that apart from lungs, ACE-2 (Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2), the protein that SARS-Cov-2 attaches itself for its entry into the human cells, are also present in the tissues involved in glucose metabolism which includes the pancreas, the liver, the kidney etc. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that SARS-CoV-2 may alter glucose metabolism and may lead to the new-onset of diabetes.
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