The Optimal Medical Therapy for Glycemic Control in COVID-19

Diabetes is highly linked to the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). My recent meta-analysis also suggested a higher prevalence of diabetes in severe COVID-19 as compared with non-severe COVID-19. Recent observational studies have shown that hyperglycemia was significantly associated with severity of COVID-19 in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. To prevent worse outcome of COVID-19, more tight glucose control is required. I studied the association between hyperglycemia and worse outcome of COVID-19, the putative beneficial and harmful effects, and clinical outcomes of oral hypoglycemic drugs and insulin use in glycemic control among COVID-19 patients, by searching literatures. Although there were some negative studies, the meta-analysis reported that the treatment using metformin was associated with reduction in mortality due to COVID-19. One study showed that treatment with sitagliptin, one of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitors, during hospitalization was associated with reduction of mortality, with a clinical improvement as compared with patients on the standard care. There were no clinical studies showed effects of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, pioglitazone and sulfonylurea on COVID-19 outcomes. Regarding sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, a case of euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) associated with COVID-19 and a case of DKA that was difficult to distinguish from COVID-19 were reported. COVID-19 patients who need hospital care may deteriorate rapidly, an early and appropriate initiation of insulin therapy in hyperglycemic COVID-19 patients may be to be encouraged. J Endocrinol Metab. 2021;11(1):1-7 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jem718