Bidirectional Relationship between Glycemic Control and COVID-19 and Perspectives of Islet Organoid Models of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Abstract

Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) leads to morbidity and mortality, with several clinical manifestations, and has caused a widespread pandemic. It has been found that type 2 diabetes is a risk factor for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness. Moreover, accumulating evidence has shown that SARS-CoV-2 infection can increase the risk of hyperglycemia and diabetes, though the underlying mechanism remains unclear because of a lack of authentic disease models to recapitulate the abnormalities involved in the development, regeneration, and function of human pancreatic islets under SARS-CoV-2 infection. Stem-cell-derived islet organoids have been valued as a model to study islets’ development and function, and thus provide a promising model for unraveling the mechanisms underlying the onset of diabetes under SARS-CoV-2 infection. This review summarized the latest results from clinical and basic research on SARS-CoV-2-induced pancreatic islet damage and impaired glycemic control. Furthermore, we discuss the potential and perspectives of using human ES/iPS cell-derived islet organoids to unravel the bidirectional relationship between glycemic control and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Ameliorating and refining islet organoids to illuminate treatment and pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus

“…Additionally, microfluidic systems that provide better nutritional support to cells through continuous perfusion also face challenges with microbial contamination [ 85 ]. Presently, islet organoids constructed do not possess a functional immune system, thereby amplifying their susceptibility to infections from such contaminations [ 150 ].…”