SARS-CoV-2 Invades Our Fat Cells


For some time we have known that obesity elevates the risk of having a serious case COVID-19. The CDC says "the risk of severe COVID-19 illness increases sharply with elevated BMI" (body mass index).

New research, published in pre-print (meaning it has not yet been reviewed), sheds light on why that is true: The virus attacks fat cells. This, in turn causes an inflammatory response. The more fat you have the bigger the response and the more severe disease you're likely to have.

The relationship between fat and inflammation has been on scientists' radar for some time. They believe chronic low-grade inflammation caused by fat is responsible for the negative health outcomes associated with obesity, like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and so on. The coronavirus seems to turbocharge this process.

Scientists think this ability to infect fat cells may also help the virus evade our immune response. In other words, fat may serve as something of a reservoir where the virus can safely replicate. 

If the finding holds up, it goes a long way toward explaining what certain monitory populations seem to be at higher risk of severe COVID-19. Blacks and Hispanics have the highest rates of obesity in the U.S., according to the CDC. Approximately one-third American Indians and Alaska Native adults are obese. All these groups have been hit extremely hard by COVID-19.


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