Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33536639›Full record

ArticleNature metabolism2021

SARS-CoV-2 infects and replicates in cells of the human endocrine and exocrine pancreas.

Janis A Müller, Rüdiger Groß, Carina Conzelmann, Jana Krüger, Uta Merle, Johannes Steinhart, Tatjana Weil, Lennart Koepke, Caterina Prelli Bozzo, Clarissa Read and 25 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature metabolism, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 336 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
336citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
105.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

336 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 557 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. Prevalence and prognosis of increased pancreatic enzymes in patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Pancreatology : official journal of the International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) ... [et al.] · 2022
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  20. Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus Pathogenesis: Mechanisms, Early Diagnostic Strategies, and Emerging Therapeutic Approaches.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026
    Review

276 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

35 authors at 9 institutions in 3 countries.

Janis A Müller *Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0347-416X
Rüdiger Groß *Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0355-7915
Carina Conzelmann *Institute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.
Jana Krüger *Department of Internal Medicine 1, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0829-2872
Uta MerleDepartment of Internal Medicine 4, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Johannes SteinhartDepartment of Pathology, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3691-5803
Tatjana WeilInstitute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0925-2426
Lennart KoepkeInstitute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9788-1972
Caterina Prelli BozzoInstitute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.
Clarissa ReadCentral Facility for Electron Microscopy, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4632-2684
Giorgio FoisInstitute of General Physiology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5414-1149
Tim EiselerDepartment of Internal Medicine 1, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany.
Julia GehrmannInstitute for Computational Genomics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4101-5458
Joanne van VuurenInstitute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.
Isabel M WessbecherTissue Bank of the German Center for Infection Research, Institute of Pathology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5618-2817
Manfred FrickInstitute of General Physiology, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4763-1104
Ivan G CostaInstitute for Computational Genomics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2890-8697
Markus BreunigDepartment of Internal Medicine 1, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2817-1974
Beate GrünerDepartment of Internal Medicine 3, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany.
Lynn PetersDepartment of Internal Medicine 3, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4882-6816
Michael SchusterCeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2975-8969
Stefan LiebauInstitute of Neuroanatomy & Developmental Biology, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Thomas SeufferleinDepartment of Internal Medicine 1, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany.
Steffen StengerInstitute for Microbiology and Hygiene, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.
Albrecht StenzingerInstitute of Pathology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Patrick E MacDonaldAlberta Diabetes Institute and Department of Pharmacology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Frank KirchhoffInstitute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.
Konstantin M J SparrerInstitute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8682-1779
Paul WaltherCentral Facility for Electron Microscopy, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany.
Heiko LickertInstitute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4597-8825
Thomas F E BarthDepartment of Pathology, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany.
Martin WagnerDepartment of Internal Medicine 1, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany. martin.wagner@uniklinik-ulm.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5735-3462
Jan MünchInstitute of Molecular Virology, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm, Germany. jan.muench@uni-ulm.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7316-7141
Sandra HellerDepartment of Internal Medicine 1, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany. sandra.heller@uni-ulm.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8704-2646
Alexander KlegerDepartment of Internal Medicine 1, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany. alexander.kleger@uni-ulm.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0592-5232
Universität Ulm · DEUniversity Hospital Ulm · DEHeidelberg University · DEHelmholtz Zentrum München · DERWTH Aachen University · DEAustrian Academy of Sciences · ATInstitute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene · DEUniversity of Alberta · CAUniversity of Tübingen · DE

Funding

Baden-Württemberg Stiftung (Baden-Württemberg Foundation) ExPoChipDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) 376202546Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) CRC1279Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) "focus funding on COVID-19" DFG KL 2544/8-1 - AO 673221Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) GRK 2254/1Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) "Heisenberg-Programm" KL 2544/6-1Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) K.L. 2544/1-1 and 1-2 and 5-1Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) "Sachbeihilfe" KL 2544/7-1Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) SPP1923
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Infection-related diabetes can arise as a result of virus-associated β-cell destruction. Clinical data suggest that the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), impairs glucose homoeostasis, but experimental evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can infect pancreatic tissue has been lacking. In the present study, we show that SARS-CoV-2 infects cells of the human exocrine and endocrine pancreas ex vivo and in vivo. We demonstrate that human β-cells express viral entry proteins, and SARS-CoV-2 infects and replicates in cultured human islets. Infection is associated with morphological, transcriptional and functional changes, including reduced numbers of insulin-secretory granules in β-cells and impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. In COVID-19 full-body postmortem examinations, we detected SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein in pancreatic exocrine cells, and in cells that stain positive for the β-cell marker NKX6.1 and are in close proximity to the islets of Langerhans in all four patients investigated. Our data identify the human pancreas as a target of SARS-CoV-2 infection and suggest that β-cell infection could contribute to the metabolic dysregulation observed in patients with COVID-19.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2Cells, CulturedCOVID-19Diabetes MellitusFemaleHumansIslets of LangerhansMalePancreas, ExocrinePancreatic DiseasesSARS-CoV-2Serine EndopeptidasesVirus InternalizationVirus ReplicationACE2 protein, humanAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2Serine EndopeptidasesTMPRSS2 protein, human

Identifiers

PMID33536639
OpenAlexW3127484940

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.