covid-19 and diabetes

Following the discovery of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2) in china, it has been transmitted to travelers through respiratory droplets and distributed worldwide. viral, environmental, and host factors all play a role in getting infected with the virus and having severe forms of the disease named coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19). diabetes is one of the most important host risk factors in the progression and severity of covid-19. in diabetes, hyperglycemia and protein glycosylation increase pro-inflammatory cytokines levels and suppress innate and adaptive immune system by impairing the function of neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes, especially regulatory t lymphocytes. the compromised immune system in diabetic patients makes them vulnerable to infectious diseases like covid-19. correspondingly, people with diabetes are usually treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ace) inhibitors and angiotensin ii type-i receptor blockers (arbs), which increase ace2 expression as a receptor for sars-cov-2. thus, diabetic patients are more likely to develop severe forms of covid-19 and die due to chronic inflammation and impaired immune function.