Obesity is a potential risk factor contributing to clinical manifestations of COVID-19
Zhenyu Kang, Shanshan Luo, Yang Gui, Haifeng Zhou, Zili Zhang, Chunxia Tian, Qiaoli Zhou, Quansheng Wang, Yu Hu, Heng Fan & Desheng Hu
International Journal of Obesity (2020)
Abstract
Background
Since December 2019, novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)-induced pneumonia (COVID-19) occurred in Wuhan, and rapidly spread throughout China. COVID-19 patients demonstrated significantly different outcomes in clinic. We aimed to figure out whether obesity is a risk factor influencing the progression and prognosis of COVID-19.
Methods
95 patients with COVID-19 were divided into obesity group and non-obesity group according to their body mass index (BMI). The demographic data, clinical characteristics, laboratory examination, and chest computed tomography (CT) were collected, analyzed and compared between two groups.
Results
Our data showed that COVID-19 patients with obesity had more underlying diseases and higher mortality rate compared to those without obesity. Furthermore, patients with obesity also demonstrated more severe pathological change in lung and higher blood lymphocytes, triglycerides, IL-6, CRP, cystatin C, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), which may greatly influence disease progression and poor prognosis of COVID-19.