Will CoviDiab answer the question?
Data from CoviDiab will include diabetes type in adults and children, registry coprincipal investigator Francesco Rubino, MD, of King’s College London, told this news organization.
“We aimed at having as many as possible cases of new-onset diabetes for which we can have also a minimum set of clinical data including type of diabetes and A1c. By looking at this information we can infer whether a role of COVID-19 in triggering diabetes is clinically plausible – or not – and what type of diabetes is most frequently associated with COVID-19 as this also speaks about mechanisms of action.”
Dr. Rubino said that the CoviDiab team is approaching the data with the assumption that, at least in adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the explanation might be that the person already had undiagnosed diabetes or that the hyperglycemia may be stress-induced and temporary.
“We’re looking at this question with a skeptical eye ... Is it just an association, or does the virus have a role in inducing diabetes from scratch, or can the virus advance pathophysiology in a way that it ends up in full-blown diabetes in predisposed individuals?”
While no single study will prove that SARS-CoV-2 causes diabetes, “combining observations from various studies and approaches we may get a higher degree of certainty,” Dr. Rubino said, noting that the CoviDiab team plans to publish data from the first 800 cases “soon.”
Dr. Kim has reported no relevant financial relationships. Dr. Rubino has reported receiving grants from Ethicon and Medtronic, personal fees from GI Dynamic, Keyron, Novo Nordisk, Ethicon, and Medtronic.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.