Open AccessIs Serotonin the Missing Link between COVID-19 Course of Severity in Patients with Diabetes and Obesity?
Author(s) -
Ana Paula Santos,
Carlos Ferreira Couto,
Sofia S. Pereira,
Mariana P. Monteiro
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
neuroendocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.493
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1423-0194
pISSN - 0028-3835
DOI - 10.1159/000522115
Subject(s) - disease , diabetes mellitus , obesity , medicine , bioinformatics , covid-19 , type 2 diabetes , intensive care medicine , immunology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , endocrinology , biology
COVID-19 pandemic is an intriguing infectious condition with multisystem manifestations and variable outcomes that are influenced by the concomitant presence of non-communicable diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, which were previously well-established pandemics. In addition, social, ethnic, behavioral factors were also demonstrated to play a role on the patients and populations` biological response to the condition, and therefore are considered global syndemics. Although, an enormous progress towards understanding mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection has been made, there are still many areas of uncertainty to clarify. Systemic diseases are characterized by common links that allow integrating apparently unrelated disease manifestations. The authors launch the provocative hypothesis that the serotonin is the putative molecular mediator linking the lung, gut, cardiac, neurological, and other systemic manifestations that characterise severe COVID-19 in individuals with diabetes and obesity. Scientific discussion is set by highlighting the available clues that support this working hypothesis to trigger future research aimed at unravelling the molecular pathways underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection that are still far from being fully disclosed.