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Research Project: Intervention Strategies to Control Endemic and New and Emerging Viral Diseases of Swine

Location: Virus and Prion Research

Title: Immunometabolic dysregulation at the intersection of obesity and COVID-19

Author
item KHWATENGE, COLLINS - Tennessee State University
item PATE, MARQUETTE - Tennessee State University
item Miller, Laura
item SANG, YONGMING - Tennessee State University

Submitted to: Frontiers in Immunology
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/28/2021
Publication Date: 10/19/2021
Citation: Khwatenge, C.N., Pate, M., Miller, L.C., Sang, Y. 2021. Immunometabolic dysregulation at the intersection of obesity and COVID-19. Frontiers in Immunology. 12. Article 732913. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.732913.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.732913

Interpretive Summary: Obesity prevails worldwide to an increasing affect, for example up to 42% of American adults are considered obese. Obese individuals are prone to a variety of complications with metabolic disorders. Recent studies indicate that the presence of obesity and relevant disorders is linked to a more severe prognosis of COVID-19. Here we provide a review a focusing on immunometabolic dysregulation exaggerated by obesity and the viral infection to develop into a severe course of COVID-19 syndrome.

Technical Abstract: Obesity prevails worldwide to an increasing affect, for example up to 42% of American adults are considered obese. Obese individuals are prone to a variety of complications with metabolic disorders, including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease. Recent meta-analyses of clinical studies in patient cohorts of ongoing pandemic of coronavirus-disease 2019 (COVID-19), indicate that the presence of obesity and relevant disorders is linked to a more severe prognosis of COVID-19. Given this significant coincidence of obesity in COVID-19 progression, we provide a review at the interface of host metabolic and immune responses by focusing on immunometabolic dysregulation that is exaggerated by obesity and the viral infection to develop into a severe course of COVID-19 syndrome. Moreover, sequela studies of individuals six months after having COVID-19 show that people who have been infected by the COVID-19 virus may have a higher risk to suffer metabolic comorbidities including obesity, diabetes, and kidney disease. These collectively implicate an inter-systemic dimension to understand the association between obesity and COVID-19, and suggest interdisciplinary intervention for relieving obesity-COVID-19 complication beyond the phase of acute infection.