CHANDIGARH: Those suffering from Type 2 diabetes and infected even with moderate or mild Covid-19 virus, were not found to have developed sufficient antibodies as a normal individual would have after the infection. Thus, these patients are at higher risk of reinfection, inferred a PGI study.
The study, “Impaired anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody response in non-severe Covid-19 patients with diabetes mellitus: A preliminary report” has been done by Dr Rimesh Pal, Dr Naresh Sachdeva, Dr Soham Mukherjee, Dr Vikas Suri, Dr Deepy Zohmangaihi, Dr Sant Ram, Dr Goverdhan Dutt Puri, Dr Ashish Bhalla, Dr Shiv Lal Soni, Dr Navin Pandey, Dr Anil Bhansali and Dr Sanjay Kumar Bhadada.
In this retrospective preliminary study done between April 10 and May 20, involving 31 patients with non-severe Covid-19, it was found that patients with diabetes were more likely to be negative for Covid-19 antibodies than those without diabetes.
“However, larger studies are required to validate the finding. We had nine patients, who were
diabetics out of the 31 Covid-19 patients at the PGI,” said Dr Bhadada.
Moreover, the study inferred that these Covid-19 infected diabetic patients also turned Covid-19 negative after two weeks of diagnosis. “We had seen more severity and mortality due to Covid-19 in diabetics throughout the world. So, we proposed this study to understand one of the parameters of this severity - the antibody response,” said Dr Bhadada.
Infection with the Covid-19 virus leads to generation of neutralizing antibodies which are essential for preventing reinfections. A robust adaptive immune response and immunological memory are critical for the generation of these antibodies.
“Patients with diabetes have compromised adaptive immune system and often demonstrate impaired antibody response to influenza and hepatitis B vaccines, particularly those with poor blood sugar control,” said Dr Bhadada.
The researchers used antibodies testing kits, which was validated in both the endocrinology laboratory and the biochemistry laboratory of the institute. The study mentioned that the presence of antibodies does not necessarily guarantee protection against reinfections, especially if the neutralizing activity of the antibodies is not known.
“These limitations will overcome in our further studies, which we plan to do in larger groups,” added Dr Bhadada.