A Brazilian group of researchers has uncovered one of the causes of the greater severity of COVID19 in diabetic patients. As experiments carried out in the laboratory have shown, the higher level of glucose in the blood is captured by a type of defense cell known as a monocyte and serves as a source of extra energy, which allows the new coronavirus to replicate more than in an organism healthy. In response to the increasing viral load, monocytes begin to release a large amount of cytokines [proteins with inflammatory action], which cause a series of effects, such as the death of lung cells.
