Abstract
Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) infection on Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) patients and their humoral response against the virus infection or vaccination is presently unclear, as in extant research Type 1 and Type 2 DM is rarely distinguished. Objective: we aimed to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection, any associated risk factors for hospitalization, and the COVID-19 IgG antibody levels in T1DM patients versus those obtained from healthy individuals. Methods and subjects: 58 T1DM patients and 56 healthy adults with documented COVID-19 diagnosis and/or documented vaccination were recruited from different clinics in Al-Karak Governmental Hospital to complete a questionnaire before collecting their serum samples for measuring IgG levels. Results: Our results revealed a statistically significant decrease in SARS-CoV-2 NP IgG antibody levels in COVID-19 infected T1DM patients compared to infected healthy individuals who served as controls, while, no significant difference was noticed in the levels of SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG antibody among vaccinated T1DM patients versus controls. After adjusting for associated risk factors, the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 for individuals with uncontrolled T1DM was significantly increased compared to controls, and among patients with T1DM, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) correlated negatively with the IgG levels. Moreover, IgG seropositivity was significantly associated with old age and smoking. Conclusion: Our findings point towards an increased need for vaccination for patients with T1DM, and suggest that glycemic control could be a vital measure for diminishing the impact of COVID-19 on these individuals.