Pancreatic Injury and Coronavirus Disease-2019

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 can induce dysfunction in a couple of organs, including kidney, heart, liver, gut, and pancreas. Pancreatic injury is an inflammatory situation of the exocrine pancreas, precipitated mostly by gallstones and alcohol intake. We found the fact that lack of research about the influence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in pancreatic injury. METHODS: A literature searching was conducted through the PubMed, Science Direct, Medline, and Google Scholar searching engines using the following keywords: (“severe acute respiratory tract syndrome-coronavirus 2019” OR “COVID-19” OR “coronavirus 2019” OR “SARS-CoV-2”) AND (“pancreas” OR “pancreatitis” OR “hyperamylasemia” OR “pancreatic injury” OR “pancreatic damage” OR “pancreatic disturbance”). All articles and abstracts in English from literature review, case report, original article, systematic review, and meta-analysis were involved. RESULTS: A total of 17 literatures were gathered. Through the studies, we found that several pathways may damage pancreas in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, either due to direct virus-mediated damage of the exocrine pancreas via the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 receptors, the severe COVID-19 contamination which can lead to systemic inflammation and pancreatic injury, or the virus-mediated injury to the islet cells. The prevalence of pancreatitis in patients with COVID-19 was low. Elevated pancreatic enzyme level was one of the sign of pancreatic involvement. CONCLUSION: Pancreatic injury may occur in patients with severe COVID-19 due to several pathways. Assessment of pancreatitis severity may aid in managing pancreatitis in this particular population.