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 surface, the virus has spike-like glycoprotein, which is responsible for the attachment 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.