Frontiers in Immunology (May 2022)

COVID-19 and Preexisting Comorbidities: Risks, Synergies, and Clinical Outcomes

  • Banafsheh Bigdelou,
  • Mohammad Reza Sepand,
  • Sahar Najafikhoshnoo,
  • Sahar Najafikhoshnoo,
  • Sahar Najafikhoshnoo,
  • Jorge Alfonso Tavares Negrete,
  • Jorge Alfonso Tavares Negrete,
  • Jorge Alfonso Tavares Negrete,
  • Mohammed Sharaf,
  • Jim Q. Ho,
  • Ian Sullivan,
  • Prashant Chauhan,
  • Manina Etter,
  • Tala Shekarian,
  • Olin Liang,
  • Gregor Hutter,
  • Rahim Esfandiarpour,
  • Rahim Esfandiarpour,
  • Rahim Esfandiarpour,
  • Steven Zanganeh

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.890517
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its associated symptoms, named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), have rapidly spread worldwide, resulting in the declaration of a pandemic. When several countries began enacting quarantine and lockdown policies, the pandemic as it is now known truly began. While most patients have minimal symptoms, approximately 20% of verified subjects are suffering from serious medical consequences. Co-existing diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and others, have been shown to make patients more vulnerable to severe outcomes from COVID-19 by modulating host–viral interactions and immune responses, causing severe infection and mortality. In this review, we outline the putative signaling pathways at the interface of COVID-19 and several diseases, emphasizing the clinical and molecular implications of concurring diseases in COVID-19 clinical outcomes. As evidence is limited on co-existing diseases and COVID-19, most findings are preliminary, and further research is required for optimal management of patients with comorbidities.

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