First COVID, then diabetes? Ulm study shows that SARS-CoV-2 also infects the pancreas

SARS-CoV-2 infects multiple organs. Severe presentations of COVID-19 not only affect the respiratory tract, the digestive tract and the cardiovascular and nervous system, but also glucose metabolism. Researchers at Ulm University Medical Center have now discovered that SARS-CoV-2 infects the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas in severe courses of the disease. This may explain the occurrence of diabetes-like symptoms in COVID-19 patients and the impairment of glucose metabolism in diabetic patients with COVID-19. The findings were published in the high-ranking journal Nature Metabolism.

Quelle: IDW Informationsdienst Wissenschaft