In:
The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Oxford University Press (OUP), Vol. 224, No. 9 ( 2021-11-16), p. 1462-1472
Abstract:
The mechanisms underlying the association between obesity and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity remain unclear. After verifying that obesity was a correlate of severe COVID-19 in US Military Health System (MHS) beneficiaries, we compared immunological and virological phenotypes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in both obese and nonobese participants. Methods COVID-19–infected MHS beneficiaries were enrolled, and anthropometric, clinical, and demographic data were collected. We compared the SARS-CoV-2 peak IgG humoral response and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction viral load in obese and nonobese patients, stratified by hospitalization, utilizing logistic regression models. Results Data from 511 COVID-19 patients were analyzed, among whom 24% were obese and 14% severely obese. Obesity was independently associated with hospitalization (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI] , 1.15–3.18) and need for oxygen therapy (aOR, 3.39; 95% CI, 1.61–7.11). In outpatients, severely obese had a log10 (1.89) higher nucleocapsid (N1) genome equivalents (GE)/reaction and log10 (2.62) higher N2 GE/reaction than nonobese (P = 0.03 and P & lt; .001, respectively). We noted a correlation between body mass index and peak anti-spike protein IgG in inpatients and outpatients (coefficient = 5.48, P & lt; .001). Conclusions Obesity is a strong correlate of COVID-19 severity in MHS beneficiaries. These findings offer new pathophysiological insights into the relationship between obesity and COVID-19 severity.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0022-1899
,
1537-6613
DOI:
10.1093/infdis/jiab396
Language:
English
Publisher:
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Publication Date:
2021
detail.hit.zdb_id:
3019-3
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1473843-0
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