The interplay between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) and the hypothalamic and endocrinal disorders: A Mini-review

The Egyptian Journal of Immunology
Volume 30 (1), January, 2023
Pages: 73–86.
www.Ejimmunology.org
https://doi.org/10.55133/eji.300108
Fatma E. Hassan1,3, Alaa. M. Kadah2, Eatedal. M. AlShareef2, Houriyah. Y. Nukaly2, Jinan A. Al-Fadhel2, Mahinar. M. AlHartani2, Ruqayyah. A. Ahmed2 and Sara. K. Fagih2
1Department of Physiology, Medicine Program, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia.

2Medicine Program, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia.

3Department of Medical Physiology, Kasr Alainy, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.

Corresponding author: Fatma E. Hassan, Department of Physiology, Medicine Program, Batterjee Medical College, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia.
Email: Fatma.hassan@bmc.edu.sa.

Abstract

The worldwide medical systems are still being severely impacted by the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which is responsible for catastrophic mortality and morbidity. It becomes more and more obvious that this unique respiratory virus’s impacts go beyond the respiratory system as time goes on and our comprehension of it deepens. The transmembrane serine protease 2 (TMPRSS2) protein is necessary for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which is the cause of COVID-19, to gain cellular entry through the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. Most endocrine glands exhibit high levels of expression for ACE2 and TMPRSS2. This pays the attention to the effect of COVID-19 on the endocrine system. Besides its capability to pass to the central nervous system especially the hypothalamus inducing a lot of functional disorders in COVID-19 individuals. Although effective vaccines became widely available, and mortality declined but attention is shifting more and more to the lengthy health impacts on COVID-19 survivors. To inform suitable research and effective management, this review provides an overview of the data examining the impacts of COVID-19 on the endocrine glands besides the hypothalamus. In addition, we reported if the endocrinal and thalamic disorders could affect the incidence and progress of COVID-19.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; ACE2 receptor; hypothalamus; adrenals; pituitary; thyroid; parathyroid; pancreas; gonads

Date received: 27 September 2022; accepted: 22 November 2022

PMID: 36592120

 

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