Study uncovers how Covid triggers or worsens diabetes amid rise of XEC variant

Experts have uncovered a new connection between Covid and a potentially deadly disease, amid a new variant dubbed XEC.

A new study has revealed how a Covid infection can trigger or worsen diabetes, shedding light on the damage the virus has on blood sugar regulation.

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine used a new and advanced model to find out how the virus causing Covid, SARS-CoV-2, causes new cases of diabetes and makes existing diabetes worse.

They discovered that the virus prompts immune cells to attack and destroy beta cells in the pancreas, which are responsible for making insulin.

“There has long been a hypothesis in the field that certain viral infections may trigger type 1 diabetes,” director of the Center for Genomic Health and study author Shuibing Chen said.

“But we were able to show how this happens in the context of Covid-19 infection.”

For this study researchers analysed pancreatic tissue samples taken from autopsies of individuals who had died from Covid.

From the onset of the pandemic, doctors noted that the virus impacted various organ systems beyond just the lungs, including the heart, liver, colon, and pancreas.

For this study, published in Cell Stem Cell, researchers analysed pancreatic tissue samples taken from autopsies of individuals who had died from Covid.

They found that the pancreatic islets, which are responsible for producing insulin to regulate blood sugar levels, were damaged.

“When someone has severe Covid-19, of course the first priority is to treat the life-threatening symptoms,” co-author Dr Robert Schwartz said.

“But moving forward, there may be a way to develop clinical therapeutics that help avoid later injury to organs like the pancreas.”

A new study has revealed how a Covid infection can trigger or worsen diabetes. Picture: Supplied

The findings come as a new coronavirus subvariant, dubbed “XEC,” has caught the attention of doctors and researchers worldwide.

Experts believe this new coronavirus strain might become the dominant variant within months.

This view was supported over the weekend by director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California Eric Topol.

“At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next,” Mr Topol wrote on X.

Reports indicate that this new variant initially emerged in Germany and has since been identified in about two dozen other countries since June.

A new coronavirus subvariant, dubbed “XEC,” has caught the attention of doctors and researchers worldwide. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Although XEC has been spotted in the United States, its spread is currently limited and hasn’t yet been included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s variant tracker.

Symptoms of XEC are said to be close to those of prior variants and include a fever, sore throat, cough, loss of smell and appetite, and body aches.

The beta variant was the most deadly of all the Covid strains that the World Health Organisation deemed variants of concern.

In Australia, the dominant Covid variant circulating currently is the Omicron.

Originally published as Study uncovers how Covid triggers or worsens diabetes amid rise of XEC variant