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Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to global research to predict those who are at greatest risk of developing severe disease and mortality. The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the associations between obesity and the severity of and mortality due to COVID-19. Methods We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and Web of Science databases for studies evaluating the associations of obesity with COVID-19. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random- or fixed-effects models. Meta-regression analyses were conducted to estimate regression coefficients. Results Forty-six studies involving 625,153 patients were included. Compared with nonobese patients, obese patients had a significantly increased risk of infection. (OR 2.73, 95% CI 1.53–4.87; I2 = 96.8%), hospitalization (OR 1.72, 95% CI 1.55–1.92; I2 = 47.4%), clinically severe disease (OR 3.81, 95% CI 1.97–7.35; I2 = 57.4%), mechanical ventilation (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.42–1.94; I2 = 41.3%), intensive care unit (ICU) admission (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.55–3.27; I2 = 71.5%), and mortality (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.29–2.01; I2 = 83.1%). Conclusion Patients with obesity may have a greater risk of infection, hospitalization, clinically severe disease, mechanical ventilation, ICU admission, and mortality due to COVID-19. Therefore, it is important to increase awareness of these associations with obesity in COVID-19 patients.

Aims DPP-4 inhibitors are predicted to exert a protective effect on the progression of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We conducted this meta-analysis to investigate this hypothesis. Methods Four databases, namely, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library, were used to identify studies on DPP-4 and COVID-19. The outcome indicators were the mortality of COVID-19. Funnel plots, Begg’s tests and Egger’s tests were used to assess publication bias. Results Four articles were included with a total of 1933 patients with COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes. The use of DPP-4 inhibitors was negatively associated with the risk of mortality (odds ratio (OR) = 0.58 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34–0.99). Conclusions DPP-4 inhibitors may improve the mortality of patients with COVID-19 and type 2 diabetes. As few relevant studies are available, more large-scale studies need to be performed.

ObjectivesRecently, a number of reports have described the potential relationship between COVID-19 and thyroid hormones, but the results were conflicting. We performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of the severity of COVID-19 on thyroid-related hormones and the effect of thyroid-related hormones on the outcome of COVID-19 in order to try to confirm the association between the serum levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and the severity or mortality of coronavirus-19 patients.MethodsThe methodology was already registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database, and the protocol number is CRD42021269246. Systematic searches were carried out on the Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed and Web of Science databases on November 15, 2021. We set up the literature search strategy based on the following keywords: [(T3 OR FT3 OR triiodothyronine) or (T4 OR FT4 OR thyroxine) or (TSH or thyrotropin)] and (COVID-19 OR SARS-CoV-2), without time restrictions.ResultsTwenty studies satisfied the inclusion/exclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. A total of 3609 patients were enrolled in the study. From the analysis of the included studies, the incidence of thyroid-related hormone abnormalities was higher in patients with severe COVID-19, and the serum levels of FT3 and TSH were lower than those of patients with nonsevere COVID-19. However, the difference in the FT4 levels was not significant. Similar characteristics were shown between survivors and nonsurvivors. In addition, the outcomes of the meta-analysis showed that patients with abnormal thyroid-related hormones had greater mortality.ConclusionsLow FT3 serum levels, low FT4 serum levels and low TSH serum levels may increase the mortality of COVID-19 patients during admission. On the other hand, the higher the severity level of COVID-19, the higher the probability of decreases in the FT3, FT4, TSH levels.

Background: Hyperglycaemia at admission has been demonstrated to exacerbate the outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but a meta-analysis is lacking to further confirm this hypothesis. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to summarize the evidence on the association between hyperglycaemia at admission and the development of COVID-19. Method: Four databases namely, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane Library, were screened for eligible studies. STATA software was utilized to pool data for this meta-analysis. The primary outcomes included mortality and severity. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with random-effects models, and the quality of evidence was appraised by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). This meta-analysis was prospectively registered online on PROSPERO, CRD42020191763. Results: Sixteen observational studies with 6386 COVID-19 patients relating hyperglycaemia at admission to COVID-19 outcomes were included. The overall data demonstrated that, compared with the control, the hyperglycaemia at admission group was more likely to have increased mortality (OR = 3.45, 95% CI, 2.26–5.26) and severe/critical complications (OR = 2.08, 95% CI, 1.45–2.99) of COVID-19. Conclusion: Hyperglycaemia at admission in COVID-19 patients may be a strong predictor of mortality and complications.