OSAKA: In a recent study, researchers found that coronavirus can lead to metabolism problems, and sometimes even diabetes because it affects insulin signaling.
Osaka University scientists published a study in the June issue of the journal Metabolism, stating that “Covid-19 can cause multiple organ damages as well as metabolic abnormalities such as hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and new onset of diabetes” by interfering with insulin signaling.
The novel coronavirus is transmitted by inhaling infected droplets in the air, which affects the lungs first.
But researchers have found that its harmful effects go beyond the lungs. In a groundbreaking study, a team in Japan say that they’ve singled out a critical gene that mediates the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on blood sugar mechanism.
The scientists note that their aim was to “investigate whether SARS-CoV-2 infection impairs the insulin/IGF signaling pathway in the host cell/tissue, and if so, the potential mechanism and association with COVID-19 pathology.”
They point out that “SARS-CoV-2 not only infects the respiratory [tract] but also other organs and cells, including liver, adipose tissue [body fat], and pancreas.”
“Multiple organ failure critically contributes to the severity and mortality of Covid-19, but the molecular mechanisms have not been fully explained,” they added.
“The insulin/IGF [insulin-like growth factor] signaling pathway is a key pathway in the regulation of energy metabolism and cell survival,” says Jihoon Shin, first author on the study. “Therefore, we suspected that SARS-CoV-2 affects this signaling pathway to cause problems with blood sugar regulation.”
To test their hypothesis that coronavirus affects the insulin signaling pathway, the researchers went through datasets of gene expression from patients, as well as in vivo (live animals) and in vitro (lab culture) models, infected with SARS-CoV-2. They especially sought genes that were noticeably over- or under-expressed compared with uninfected patients, animals or cells.
“The results were striking,” states Iichiro Shimomura, senior author of the study. “Infection with SARS-CoV-2 affected the expression of insulin/IGF signalling pathway components in the lung, liver, adipose tissue, and pancreatic cells. Moreover, these changes were attributed in part to activation of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1).”
The authors explained that “The high expression of IRF1 in Covid-19 patients with older age, male sex, obesity, and diabetes may exacerbate the impairment of the insulin/IGF signaling pathway, which may potentially contribute to severe tissue damage and metabolic abnormalities, thereby leading to critical outcomes in Covid-19.”
