Emerging evidence on post-COVID syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes

The novel coronavirus pandemic that ravaged the world has passed, but challenges remain. The long-term consequences of COVID-19 are remain poorly understood. The term “post-COVID syndrome” currently has a temporal component, a clinical and laboratory component, some biomolecular markers have been identified, risk factors for the development of this complication after a coronavirus infection have been determined, and the genetic component of post-COVID syndrome is being clarified. However, regarding post-COVID syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes, the data are conflicting. Data on the prevalence of post-COVID disorders vary widely, even within a single country. On average, in Europe, the frequency of PCOS in patients with type 2 diabetes is 66.8%, with the maximum frequency being at the age of 50 years. New biomarkers of post-COVID syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes are emerging, and prognostic criteria for its development in this category of patients are being developed. It was shown that the telomere length was significantly shorter in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and post-COVID syndrome than in individuals without post-COVID disorders. High levels of podocyte-specific proteins and neutrophil elastase can serve as criteria for this syndrome. We assessed the significance of some leukocyte indices in the diagnosis and monitoring of the consequences of a new coronavirus infection in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, many unanswered questions remain, in particular, whether there is a genetic predisposition to the development of chronic COVID-19 in patients with diabetes. We previously conducted an analytical review of the presence of PCS in patients with type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this publication was to summarize new data in the literature on the main points outlined previously and to present our own results.

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