Why the study?
Obesity is a major risk factor linked to severe COVID-19, motivating an investigation into the mechanisms through which obesity increases COVID-19 susceptibility and severity to guide therapies.
Obesity is a central risk factor for severe COVID-19 due to its comprehensive effects on respiratory mechanics, immune response, and associated cardiovascular and metabolic comorbidities.
The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global public health challenge. Most patients do not experience severe complications, but approximately 25% of patients progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and the mortality rate is approximately 5-7%. Clinical findings have determined several risk factors for severe complications and mortality in COVID-19 patients, such as advanced age, smoking, obesity, and chronic diseases. Obesity is a common and serious health problem worldwide that initiates a cascade of disorders, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The presence of these disorders is linked to a more severe course of COVID-19. Given the "epidemic" of obesity worldwide and the importance of obesity in the progression of COVID-19, we investigated the mechanisms through which obesity increases the susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19 to support the selection of more appropriate therapies for individuals with obesity.
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Liu et al. (2021) studied this question.
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