COVID-19 and Glucose Metabolism

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of the world's population, resulting in over 7 million deaths. It was immediately noted that obese and/or diabetic subjects and frail elderly individuals with multiple comorbidities were more likely to have a more severe disease course. The cause of the increased morbidity and mortality in obese and/or diabetic subjects was found to be related to the presence of insulin resistance in these individuals. Furthermore, it was also discovered that COVID-19, particularly in its more severe forms, was capable of causing de novo type 1 and type 2 diabetes as well as worsening the disease course, if already present. This review aims to highlight the most accredited possible mechanisms by which subjects with insulin resistance may have a more severe disease course and those by which SARS-CoV-2 infection may cause new onset of diabetes or worsening of existing diabetes. To write this manuscript, the authors independently reviewed and compared the results of peer-reviewed and impacted journal publications, written in English, selected from the most well-known search platforms such as PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate, using the following keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Insulin resistance, Glucose metabolism, Obesity, Diabetes, Hospitalization, Mortality.