Obesity as a risk factor for COVID-19: an overview

Author(s)

Alberca, Ricardo Wesley ^[1] ; Oliveira, Luana de Mendonca ^[2] ; Branco, Anna Claudia Calvielli Castelo ^[2] ; Pereira, Natalli Zanete ^[1] ; Sato, Maria Notomi ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Lab Med Invest 56, Dept Dermatol, Fac Med, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Dept Immunol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: CRITICAL REVIEWS IN FOOD SCIENCE AND NUTRITION; v. 61, n. 13 JUN 2020.
• Web of Science Citations: 26

Abstract

The current coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents a huge challenge for health-care systems worldwide. Many different risk factors are associated with disease severity, such as older age, diabetes, hypertension, and most recently obesity. The incidence of obesity has been on the rise for the past 25 years, reaching over 2 billion people throughout the world, and obesity itself could be considered a pandemic. In this review, we summarize aspects involved with obesity, such as changes in the immune response, nutritional factors, physiological factors, and the gut-lung axis, that impact the viral response and the COVID-19 prognosis. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 19/02679-7 - Effect of maternal and paternal supplementation with antioxidant in pulmonary inflammatory process of the offspring of mice
• Grantee: Ricardo Wesley Alberca Custódio
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral