Hypoglycemic Therapy and the Course of Post-Covid Syndrome, is There a Connection?

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (both type 1 and type 2) is considered one of the risk factors for severe COVID-19 and death from this infection. Past infection with COVID-19 leads to deterioration in the control of existing diabetes mellitus, progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes, an increase in the number of new cases of diabetes and an increase in the proportion of glucocorticoid-induced diabetes, which significantly aggravates the course of post-COVID syndrome for this category of patients. Antihyperglycemic drugs may influence the pathogenesis of COVID-19, which may be of relevance for the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and post-COVID syndrome. The review also presents our own data on the effect of various regimens of oral hypoglycemic agents on post-COVID syndrome in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. The observation showed that the use of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors as part of a treatment strategy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with a past COVID-19 infection was associated with a decrease in the duration and severity of post-COVID symptoms.

Keywords

• diabetes mellitus
• covid-19 infection
• post-covid syndrome
• dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors
• metformin