covid-19 and the risk of diabetes: a systematic review article

Background: covid-19 pandemic associates with many acute and long-term effects. hyperglycemia and diabetes are among the common comorbidities that negatively affect the outcome of covid-19 patients. many studies report an increase in the incidence of new-onset diabetes and diabetic ketoacidosis during the pandemic of covid-19. aim of the study: this review article aimed to study the bidirectional relationship between diabetes and covid-19 and understand the possible underlying mechanisms predisposed to diabetes in patients with covid-19. methods: the present work performs an online literature search on databases from pubmed, google scholar, scopus, researchgate, and web of science. the search includes publications on sars-cov-2 or covid-19, hyperglycemia, diabetes, and diabetic ketoacidosis.  results: there is a slight increase in the incidence of hyperglycemia and new-onset diabetes during or post covid-19 infections. among the proposed mechanisms of that increase are the direct and indirect effects of sars-cov-2 on beta cells of the pancreas. these effects arise from viral-mediated inflammatory and immunological effects on beta cells. stress hyperglycemia, corticosteroid administration, obesity, and preexisting diabetes are important aggravating factors for developing diabetes in covid-19 patients. conclusion: the long-term follow-up is mandatory to determine the outcome of patients, who develop new-onset diabetes after covid-19 infection.