Scientists from leading research institutions in the UK, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, China and Cameroon have identified a “two-way relationship” between coronavirus and diabetes.
On the one hand, diabetes is associated with an increased risk of developing severe form of COVID-19.
On the other hand, among patients with coronavirus, first diagnosed cases of diabetes and severe metabolic complications of previously existing diabetes were observed.
According to scientists, coronavirus can bind to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which is located in key metabolic organs and tissues.
“It is likely that SARS-CoV-2 can cause multiple changes in glucose metabolism, which can complicate the pathophysiology of pre-existing diabetes or lead to new disease mechanisms,” the researchers said.
The article notes that this confirms the hypothesis of a “potential diabetes-causing effect of COVID-19."
Earlier, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, director of the Center for Immunology and Molecular Biomedicine of Moscow State University, Mikhail Paltsev, did not rule out that mutations of a new type of coronavirus can lead to the appearance of more aggressive forms of infection.