Coronavirus disease and diabetes – interplay of two pandemics

Abstract

“Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)” is induced by a novel enveloped virus having single-stranded RNA which was originated in Wuhan city of Hubei, province, China. The coronavirus has a protein envelope. On the outer sur-face, the virus has spike-like glycoprotein, which is responsible for the attach-ment and entrance inside host cells. It transmits rapidly affecting more than 160 countries globally, so, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced it as a pandemic. It is considered as a relative of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), COVID-19 is caused by a beta coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 that affects the lower respiratory tract and manifests as pneumonia in humans. It is an airborne disease as announced by WHO and the incubation period ranges from 2 to 14 days. The clinical spectrum of COVID-19 is heterogeneous, ranging from mild flu-like symptoms to acute respiratory distress syndrome, multiple organ failure and death. Till now, so specific treatment is invented so, prevention plays a significant role. The current situation is only limiting the spread of disease. Coronavirus infection leads to the activation of adaptive and innate immune responses, resulting in massive inflammation (to so-called cytokine storm), which in turn can lead to damage to various tissues, septic shock and multiple organ failure. According to WHO, older individuals and people having associated co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, etc., are at higher risk of getting infected by the coronavirus. This review explains the renewed correlation between diabetes and COVID-19. It also highlights the potential mechanisms by which diabetes regulates the host immune response and host-viral interactions.