COVID-19 endocrinology, adrenals, diabetes and obesity

Among the COVID-19 pandemic, many aspects of life have been put on the backburner, on the shelf or scraped completely. Fortunately, with this journal, we seem to be recovering albeit very slowly. As promised earlier in the year 2021, we are on the track. The third issue of this year is published well on time in its expected size with a variety of articles within the specialty.

The fear of getting out of date quickly is a rational cause for concern when one is writing anything about any aspect of COVID-19. Fortunately, in the current issue, a group of Gulf pituitary endocrinologists had put together a comprehensive narration of the literature on the pituitary gland in the COVID-19 pandemic by reviewing the literature up to the first half of the year. This review addressed the bidirectional relationship between COVID19 and the structure and function of the pituitary. The clinical values and research implications are highlighted in the accompanying commentary by Ngaosuwan and Johnston from the Imperial College London group. The second review is an update on diabetic kidney disease including pathogenesis and treatment overview for clinicians by Habas and colleagues from Doha (Qatar).

Four original articles are published in the issue. A proposal of new waist cut-off values to predict type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension risk in Arab adults is based on the WHO-steps data from Saudi Arabia. It is most likely applicable as well in the other oil-rich countries of the Gulf where both the genes and environment seem to be working similarly. Knowledge, beliefs, and practices of people with type 2 diabetes toward diabetes self-management and diabetic foot syndrome are presented by the colleagues from Oman. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Endocrine Research Group presents one of their Survey Monkey Project findings on the management of adrenal insufficiency from the results of their explorative survey of physicians' perceptions and practices from the MENA region. Shazia Hussein and colleagues, a group of British endocrinologists with interest in the challenges of managing adrenal insufficiency has provided a commentary on the article. Finally, we have a randomized controlled trial for efficacy of cardio-metabolic risk factor reduction with lifestyle intervention among corporate workers from Nigeria.

An interesting rare case of thyroid lymphoma is presented with discussion of the correlation of clinical, radiological, and pathological features in a focused review. Finally, Mohamed and Suliman summarized the highlights of the 81st Annual Conference of the American Diabetes Association held virtually in June 2021. We hope the readers find these contents both relevant and useful.

Conflict of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

• References

• 1 Wexler DJ, Krause-Steinrauf H, Crandall JP, Florez HJ, Hox SH, Kuhn A, et al. Baseline characteristics of randomized participants in the glycemia reduction approaches in diabetes: A comparative effectiveness study (GRADE). Diabetes Care 2019;42:2098-107.
• 2 Frías JP. Tirzepatide: A glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) dual agonist in development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Expert Rev Endocrinol Metab 2020;15:379-94.
• 3 Min T, Bain SC. The role of tirzepatide, dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist, in the management of type 2 diabetes: The SURPASS clinical trials. Diabetes Ther 2021;12:143-57.
• 4 Wilding JP, Batterham RL, Calanna S, Davies M, Van Gaal LF, Lingvay I, et al. Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity. N Engl J Med 2021;384:989.
• 5 Rubino D, Abrahamsson N, Davies M, Hesse D, Greenway FL, Jensen C, et al. Effect of continued weekly subcutaneous semaglutide vs placebo on weight loss maintenance in adults with overweight or obesity: The STEP 4 randomized clinical trial. JAMA 2021;325:1414-25.
• 6 Gerstein HC, Sattar N, Rosenstock J, Ramasundarahettige C, Pratley R, Lopes RD, et al. Cardiovascular and renal outcomes with efpeglenatide in type 2 diabetes. N Engl J Med 2021;Jun 28. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2108269. Epub ahead of print.
• 7 Perdigoto AL, Preston-Hurlburt P, Clark P, Long SA, Linsley PS, Harris KM, et al. Treatment of type 1 diabetes with teplizumab: Clinical and immunological follow-up after 7 years from diagnosis. Diabetologia 2019;62:655-64.
• 8 Garg SK, Liljenquist DR, Bode BW, Christiansen MP, Bailey TS, Brazg RL, et al. Evaluation of the next generation 180-day long-term implantable eversense CGM system: PROMISE study. ADA 2021;Abstract 149-OR.
• 9 Pettus J, Boeder SC, Christiansen MP, Denham DS, Bailey TS, Akturk HK, et al. 236-OR: Volagidemab, a human glucagon receptor antagonist, improves glycemic control in subjects with type 1 diabetes (T1D): A 12-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Diabetes 2021;70 Suppl 1. [doi: 10.2337/db21-236-OR].
• 10 Seaquist ER, Dulude H, Zhang XM, Rabasa-Lhoret R, Tsoukas GM, Conway JR, et al. Prospective study evaluating the use of nasal glucagon for the treatment of moderate to severe hypoglycaemia in adults with type 1 diabetes in a real-world setting. Diabetes Obes Metab 2018;20:1316-20.
• 11 Pieber TR, Aronson R, Hövelmann U, Willard J, Plum-Mörschel L, Knudsen KM, et al. Dasiglucagon: A next-generation glucagon analog for rapid and effective treatment of severe hypoglycemia results of phase 3 randomized double-blind clinical trial. Diabetes Care. 2021 Apr 21;44(6):1361–7.
• 12 Bhatt DL, Szarek M, Steg PG, Cannon CP, Leiter LA, McGuire DK, et al. Sotagliflozin in patients with diabetes and recent worsening heart failure. N Engl J Med 2021;384:117-28.
• 13 Bhatt DL, Szarek M, Pitt B, Cannon CP, Leiter LA, McGuire DK, et al. Sotagliflozin in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease. N Engl J Med 2021;384:129-39.
• 14 Kosiborod M, Berwanger O, Koch GG, Martinez F, Mukhtar O, Verma S, et al. Effects of dapagliflozin on prevention of major clinical events and recovery in patients with respiratory failure because of COVID-19: Design and rationale for the DARE-19 study. Diabetes Obes Metab 2021;23:886-96.
• 15 Bhatt DL, Steg PG, Miller M, Brinton EA, Jacobson TA, Ketchum SB, et al. Cardiovascular risk reduction with icosapent ethyl for hypertriglyceridemia. N Engl J Med 2019;380:11-22.
• 16 Nicholls SJ, Lincoff AM, Garcia M, Bash D, Ballantyne CM, Barter PJ, et al. Effect of high-dose omega-3 fatty acids vs corn oil on major adverse cardiovascular events in patients at high cardiovascular risk: The STRENGTH randomized clinical trial. JAMA 2020;324:2268-80.
• 17 Nissen SE, Lincoff AM, Wolski K, Ballantyne CM, Kastelein JJ, Ridker PM, et al. Association between achieved ω-3 fatty acid levels and major adverse cardiovascular outcomes in patients with high cardiovascular risk: A secondary analysis of the STRENGTH trial. JAMA Cardiol. 2021 May 16: e211157. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2021.1157. Epub ahead of print.

Publication History

Received: 30 July 2021

Accepted: 01 August 2021

Article published online:
06 July 2022