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In the study, reported in the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers found that the deadly infection induces hyperglycemia by disrupting fat cellsa� production of adiponectin — a hormone produced by fat cells which normally has a protective effect against diabetes by enhancing insulin sensitivity.
“We normally don’t think that fat cells are very active, but in fact they synthesise many protective proteins for your body — and it appears that SARS-CoV-2 may disable that protection in many patients,” said James Lo, Associate Professor of medicine and cardiologist at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Centre.
Read more: Diabetes symptoms: What is the 3 am blood sugar phenomenon?
For the study, the team analysed the records of 3,854 patients who were hospitalised with Covid-19 in the first few months of the pandemic in the US.
They found that a remarkably high proportion (49.7 per cent) of these patients presented with hyperglycemia or developed it during their hospital stays.
Compared to patients with normal blood sugar levels, the patients with hyperglycemia were nine times more likely to develop severe lung dysfunction (acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS), 15 times more likely to be given mechanical ventilation, and three times more likely to die.
Further tests also revealed that the Covid-19 ARDS patients had severe declines in blood levels of adiponectin.
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