Abstract

RUFIN-GOMEZ, Lorenzo Ángel; BENITEZ-FUENTES, Betsy  and  MENDEZ-MARTINEZ, Jesús. Obesity: a risk factor in patients with COVID-19. Rev.Med.Electrón. [online]. 2023, vol.45, n.3, pp. 455-466.  Epub June 30, 2023. ISSN 1684-1824.

Recent reports indicate a strong association between obesity and the severity of COVID-19 infection, which is based on the presence of a chronic pro-inflammatory state in obese patients, linked to metabolic and immune system disorders. This paper aims to reviewing the most recent studies on the positive association established between obesity, as a risk factor, and severity and mortality of patients with COVID-19; it also aims to renew the involved mechanisms, for which articles published-mainly in the last five years-in the PubMed, SciELO, Clinical Key and LILACS databases, and in the Google Scholar search engine were selected. These studies included, among other parameters, the body mass index and its association to severity and mortality due to COVID-19. As a result, the clinical evidence suggests that overweight and obesity have a high prevalence in severe cases of adult patients with COVID-19. It is concluded that obesity, in these patients, requires a particular management, as it should be considered a risk factor independent of other comorbidities. This is due to its contribution to a greater susceptibility and severity, positively associated to alterations of the immune system and to hyper-inflammatory reactions by excessive release of cytokines, compromising the functioning of organs and systems and enhancing the complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality.

Keywords : obesity; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; body mass index; immune system.

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