ArticleJournal of endocrinological investigation2022
Adipose tissue in COVID-19: detection of SARS-CoV-2 in adipocytes and activation of the interferon-alpha response.
Article in Journal of endocrinological investigation, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on obesity and it is risk factors: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- SARS-CoV-2 and diabetes: a post-pandemic reappraisal.Diabetologia · 2026Review
- Adipose Tissue in SARS-CoV-2 Viral Tropism, Viral Replication, and the Concept of a Viral Reservoir: An Update.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Review
- Serum asprosin levels as a potential prognostic biomarker in COVID-19: insights for future respiratory viral pandemics.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Article
- Impact of Obesity and Ageing on the Expression of Key Mediators of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Human Adipose Tissue.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Effect of obesity on the acute response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and development of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) in nonhuman primates.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- COVID-19 induces persistent transcriptional changes in adipose tissue that are not associated with Long COVID.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Pre-existing adipose tissue signaling profile related to obesity determines disease outcome of COVID-19: addressing obesity should be a priority for future pandemic preparedness.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Article
- Interferon Upregulation Associates with Insulin Resistance in Humans.Current diabetes reviews · 2025Review
- The COVID-19 thrombus: distinguishing pathological, mechanistic, and phenotypic features and management.Journal of thrombosis and thrombolysis · 2025Review
- Molecular analysis of long COVID and new-onset diabetes mellitus: pathobiological relationships and current mechanistic views.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- Addressing Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome in Cancer Patients, from Visceral Obesity and Myosteatosis to Systemic Inflammation: Implications in Cardio-Onco-Metabolism.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- The interplay of aging, adipose tissue, and COVID-19: a potent alliance with implications for health.GeroScience · 2024Review
- Cannabis use associated with lower mortality among hospitalized Covid-19 patients using the national inpatient sample: an epidemiological study.Journal of cannabis research · 2024Article
- Diving into the proteomic atlas of SARS-CoV-2 infected cells.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Consequences of COVID-19 on Adipose Tissue Signatures.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Infection Alters the Phenotype and Gene Expression of Adipocytes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- The impact of mild COVID-19 on medium-term respiratory function.African journal of thoracic and critical care medicine · 2024Article
- Obesity-compromised immunity in post-COVID-19 condition: a critical control point of chronicity.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveObesity is a recognized risk factor for the progression to severe forms of COVID-19, yet the mechanisms of the association are unclear.
methodsSubcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue specimens of subjects deceased from COVID-19 (n = 23) were compared to those of controls dying abruptly from causes other than infectious (accidental trauma, sudden cardiac death). Alterations of lung parenchyma consistent with moderate to severe disease were detected in all COVID-19 cases, not in controls. Investigations included: histopathologic features, detection of virus antigens and genome, characterization of infiltrating leukocytes, transcription levels of immune-related genes.
resultsBy RT-PCR, the SARS-CoV-2 genome was detected in the adipose tissue of 13/23 (56%) cases of the COVID-19 cohort. The virus nucleocapsid antigen was detected in the cytoplasm of 1-5% adipocytes in 12/12 COVID-19 cases that were virus-positive by PCR in the adipose tissue (one case could not be assessed due insufficient tissue). The adipose tissue of COVID-19 cases showed leukocyte infiltrates and upregulation of the interferon-alpha pathway. After adjusting for age and sex, the activation score of IFN-alpha was directly related with transcription levels of the ACE2 gene, a key entry factor of SARS-CoV-2.
conclusionsIn lethal COVID-19 cases, the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antigen has been detected in a sizeable proportion of adipocytes, showing that the virus may directly infect the parenchymal cells of subcutaneous fat. Infection appears to activate the IFN alpha pathway and to attract infiltrating leukocytes. Due to the huge numbers of adipocytes in adults, the adipose tissue represents a significant reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 and an important source of inflammatory mediators.
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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.