Pathology of exocrine part of pancreas in new coronavirus infection COVID-19

Abstract

The initial stage of infection is the penetration of SARS-CoV-2 into target cells that have receptors for angiotensin-converting enzyme type II (ACE2). Levels of ACE2 receptors in exocrine and islet cells of the pancreas are higher than in the lungs, suggesting the potential for SARS-CoV-2 infection to cause pancreatic injury, and most notably the development of acute pancreatitis. It has been established that SARS-CoV-2 can infect exocrine and endocrine cells of the pancreas ex vivo and in vivo. In the electronic search engines PubMed and Scopus, we searched for literature on the association of a new coronavirus infection COVID-19 with pancreatic pathology, with an emphasis on ‘SARS-CoV-2’ or ‘COVID-19’ and ‘pancreas’ and ‘pancreatitis’. The sources found indicate that direct, indirect and systemic mechanisms of damage to the pancreas in COVID-19 are possible. The review considers the prevalence of acute pancreatitis in COVID-19, features of diagnosis, clinic and prognosis. Special attention is paid to hyperenzymemia observed in COVID-19. The conclusion notes that there is fairly strong evidence for an association between acute pancreatitis and COVID-19, but the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis associated with COVID-19 is challenging as other potential etiological factors must be ruled out