COVID-19 and Gestational Diabetes: A Systematic Review

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic state in\r\nresponse to the number of infected and killed by COVID-19. Gestational diabetes\r\n(GD) is characterized by physiological changes making pregnant women even more\r\nvulnerable to viral respiratory infections, such as SARS-CoV-2. For these\r\nreasons and due to the restriction of data related to DMG and the involvement\r\nby COVID-19, the importance of raising information about these two conditions\r\nis evident. Therefore, this study aimed to perform a literature review about\r\nthe complications of COVID-19 in patients with GD. MEDLINE-PubMed, EMBASE, and Scielo databases were searched and followed the PRISMA guidelines. Only four studies were included in\r\nthe systematic review. The complications and mortality are more significant in\r\npregnant women with diabetes since hyperglycemia promotes immune changes in the\r\ninflammatory state and worsens insulin resistance. The imbalance in the immune\r\nresponse favors the development of infections, the most likely being viral\r\nrespiratory infections. On the other hand, other studies show insufficient\r\nrecent evidence to indicate that pregnant women are more susceptible to\r\ninfection with severe acute coronavirus respiratory syndrome. There are\r\ndivergences between studies concerning complications related to COVID-19 in\r\npatients with GD. In view of this scenario and from the information obtained,\r\nit is noted that the literature is scarce regarding the worsening of COVID-19\r\nin patients with GD. Therefore, it is necessary to continue research on these\r\nmechanisms that may justify their correlation.