- 17% of the patients had abnormal lipase or amylase.
- Though no histopathological abnormalities were observed in pancreas of deceased patients, ACE2, a known receptor used by SARS-CoV2 to enter cells, is highly expressed in pancreas islets.
- Pancreatic injury could be related to local cytopathic effect of COVID-19 or systematic response to respiratory failure. Drug-induced pancreatic injury could also explain the phenomenom.
- Patients with pancreatic injury had more severe initial presentation, increased incidence of diarrhea and anorexia, decreased level of CD3+ T-cell and CD4+ T-cell, and increased level of AST, GGT, creatinine, LDH and ESR.
This data comes from 2 studies. Wang F. et al. conducted a retrospective study including 52 patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from January 20, 2020 to February 28, 2020. They studied the incidence of pancreatic injury among patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Xiaohong Y. et al. conducted a post-mortem examination of three confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China to study the histopathological changes in each organ.
Sources:
- Wang F., Wang H., Fan j., et al.(April 1, 2020). Pancreatic injury patterns in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2020.03.055
- Xiaohong Y., Tingyuan L., Zhicheng H., et al (March 15, 2020). A pathological report of three COVID-19 cases by minimally invasive autopsies. Chinese Journal of Pathology. https://doi.org/10.3760/cma.j.cn112151-20200312-00193