Obesity as an Important Marker of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: In December 2019, the emergence of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began in Wuhan, China. Thereafter, the disease has been spreading rapidly across the world, with about 300 million registered cases worldwide, and the numbers are also exponentially increasing in India, with about 34 million registered cases by the end of 2021. Among the comorbidities, obesity may increase the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 infection as it is related to immune system dysfunction. Since the epidemiological picture of COVID-19 is changing very rapidly. Therefore, it is very important to discuss the pattern of clinical manifestation and association with comorbidities. Hence, we have conducted this observational study in one of the tertiary care centers in North India.Methods and Materials: We conducted a hospital-based prospective observational study in dedicated COVID-19 wards and ICU of a tertiary care center in North India with a sample size of 400 positive patients (males: 260, females: 140). We divided the patients in this study into three different age groups (less than 40 years, 40-60 years, and more than 60 years). The patients with age ≤ 18 years and BMI 18.5 kg/m2 were excluded from the study.Results: Out of these 400 patients, 55 (13.8%) developed severe COVID-19. There was a fewer number of patients who developed severe COVID-19 in the normal and over-weight group. Moreover, obese patients progressed to more severe cases (34.5%). This also shows that after adjusting for age, compared to the normal-weight group, those who were overweight had a 1.48-fold chance of developing severe COVID-19 (OR 1.48, P 0.0455), while those who were obese had a 1.73-fold chance of developing the disease (ORs 1.73, P 5 0.0652). Regarding gender distribution, the association appeared to be stronger in men than in women. After similar adjustment, the ORs for overweight and obese patients compared to normal-weight patients were 1.39 (p 0.5870) and 3.55 (p 0.0113) in females and 1.36 (0.5115) and 6.19 (0.0001) in males, respectively. Conclusion:Our study shows that obese patients with a BMI of greater than or equal to 27.5 are at higher risk of developing COVID-19 severity, especially in the male population. Moreover, severity may be related to other comorbid conditions. However, in our study, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and GI/liver diseases were less obese, and severity was relatively low. So, the conclusion is that obese male patients with comorbidities are more likely to develop severe COVID-19 infection.

Association between Poor Chewing Status and Increased Waist Circumference: A One-year Longitudinal Study

“…A total of 10,870 people were recruited, of who, 799 were excluded because information on body mass index (BMI), WC, blood parameters, chewing status, or lifestyle habits was missing at baseline or after the 1-year follow-up visit. In addition, 1,385 people with a BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 were excluded [9]. Accordingly, 8,068 participants (5,138 males and 2,973 females; mean age, 51.0 years) were included in the final analysis between April 2019 and March 2020 (follow-up rate: 92.8%) (Figure 1).…”

Dysregulated cytokine and oxidative response in hyper-glycolytic monocytes in obesity

“…The accumulation of visceral adipose tissue macrophages is also a hallmark of obesity, and these cells secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF, IL-6, and IL-1ß, driving systemic, chronic, low-grade inflammation ( 2 – 4 ). Similar to chronic inflammation in aging (inflammaging), obesity-associated inflammation leads to premature aging of the immune system ( 5 – 7 ), contributing to the increased risk of obese people getting bacterial, viral, and fungal infections or having a more severe outcome ( 8 – 10 ), and to the decreased vaccine effectiveness in obese people ( 10 , 11 ), as seen in the COVID-19 pandemic ( 12 , 13 ).…”

Characterization of Plocamium telfairiae Extract-Functionalized Au Nanostructures and Their Anti-Adipogenic Activity through PLD1

“…According to WHO (World Health Organization) statistics for 2021, 13% of adults worldwide are obese and 39% of adults worldwide are overweight. In particular, 1 in every 5 adolescents and children worldwide is overweight [ 1 ]. Obesity is a metabolic disorder caused by the excessive accumulation of fat due to the proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes in the body.…”