Covid-19 and Diabetes: A Complex Bidirectional Relationship.

Covid-19 is a recently-emerged infectious disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus SARS-CoV2. SARS-CoV2 differs from previous coronavirus infections (SARS and MERS) due to its high infectivity (reproduction value, R, typically 2-4) and pre- or asymptomatic transmission, properties that have contributed to the current global Covid-19 pandemic. Identified risk factors for disease severity and death from SARS-Cov2 infection include older age, male sex, diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

Homozygous Hypomorphic Alleles Are a Novel Cause of Young-Onset Diabetes and Result in Sulfonylurea-Sensitive Diabetes.

Objective: Heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in cause maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY). Affected individuals can be treated with low-dose sulfonylureas. Individuals with homozygous mutations causing MODY have not been reported.

Adiposity measurements by BMI, skinfolds and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry in relation to risk markers for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in adult males.

Background: Choice of adiposity measure may be important in the evaluation of relationships between adiposity and risk markers for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Aim: We explored the strengths of risk marker associations with BMI, a simple measure of adiposity, and with measures provided by skinfold thicknesses and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Subjects And Methods: We evaluated in three subgroups of white males (n = 156-349), participating in a health screening program, the strengths of relationship between measures of total and regional adiposity and risk markers relating to blood pressure, lipids and lipoproteins, insulin sensitivity, and subclinical inflammation.