ArticleObesity (Silver Spring, Md.)2020
The Role of Adipocytes and Adipocyte-Like Cells in the Severity of COVID-19 Infections.
Article in Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 158 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
158 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 264 citations in OpenAlex.
- Obesity as a Risk Factor for Complications and Mortality in Individuals with SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Association of Obesity With COVID-19 Severity and Mortality: An Updated Systemic Review, Meta-Analysis, and Meta-Regression.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of prior bariatric surgery on risk and severity of COVID-19 infection: A meta-analysis of observational studies.Obesity research & clinical practicePooled it
- Effect of increased BMI and obesity on the outcome of COVID-19 adult patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Diabetes & metabolic syndromePooled it
- Alcohol Consumption Is Associated with Poor Prognosis in Obese Patients with COVID-19: A Mendelian Randomization Study Using UK Biobank.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Influence of Excess Weight on the Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Hospitalization: A Case-Control Study in a Rural Area of Spain.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Association of Body Mass Index with SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Inflammatory Arthritis Patients Receiving Biologic Therapy: Singapore National Biologics Register Findings.International journal of rheumatic diseases · 2026Article
- A systematic scoping review and conceptual analysis of new-onset fibromyalgia manifestations after non-hospitalized COVID-19: empirics, definitions, methodologies, pathophysiology, mapping of literature, and knowledge gaps.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- A Machine Learning Model for Predicting Intensive Care Unit Admission in Inpatients with COVID-19 Using Clinical Data and Laboratory Biomarkers.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Comorbidities and Severe COVID-19 Outcomes: A Retrospective Analysis of Hospitalized Patients in Three Counties in Romania.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- Interaction of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines with renin angiotensin aldosterone system, clinical outcomes, and angiotensin (1-7) as a physiological treatment recommendation: hypothesis and theory article.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Coming of age: could obesity-related metabolic complications be treated by targeting senescent cells?Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2025Review
- Lights and Shadows of Long COVID: Are Latent Infections the Real Hidden Enemy?Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- The association between adherence to unhealthy plant-based diet and risk of COVID-19: a cross-sectional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Lifestyle Behavior and Clinical Care Pathway Management in Type 2 Diabetes: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Obesity differs from diabetes mellitus in antibody and T-cell responses post-COVID-19 recovery.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2024Article
- COVID-19, Nutrients and Lifestyle Eating Behaviors: A Narrative Review.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Immune Stimulation with Imiquimod to Best Face SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Prevent Long COVID.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Clinical Characteristics of Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19 and Their Association With the Progression to Critical Illness and Death: A Single-Center Retrospective Study From Northwestern Mexico.The clinical respiratory journal · 2024Article
98 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by the highly pathogenic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), demonstrates high morbidity and mortality caused by development of a severe acute respiratory syndrome connected with extensive pulmonary fibrosis. In this Perspective, we argue that adipocytes and adipocyte-like cells, such as pulmonary lipofibroblasts, may play an important role in the pathogenic response to SARS-CoV-2. Expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (the functional receptor for SARS-CoV) is upregulated in adipocytes of patients with obesity and diabetes, which turns adipose tissue into a potential target and viral reservoir. This may explain why obesity and diabetes are potential comorbidities for COVID-19 infections. Similar to the recently established adipocyte-myofibroblast transition, pulmonary lipofibroblasts located in the alveolar interstitium and closely related to classical adipocytes demonstrate the ability to transdifferentiate into myofibroblasts that play an integral part of pulmonary fibrosis. This may significantly increase the severity of the local response to SARS-CoV-2 in the lung. To reduce the severity and mortality associated with COVID-19, we propose to probe for the clinical response to thiazolidinediones, peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ agonists that are well-known antidiabetic drugs. Thiazolidinediones are able to stabilize lipofibroblasts in their "inactive" state, preventing the transition to myofibroblasts and thereby reducing the development of pulmonary fibrosis and stimulating its resolution.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.