Impact of diabetes on COVID-19 and glucocorticoids on patients with COVID-19 and diabetes during the Omicron variant epidemic: a multicenter retrospective cohort study in South China

Abstract Background To explore the impact of diabetes on the clinical features and prognosis of COVID-19 and assess the influence of glucocorticoid use on the prognosis of patients with COVID-19 and diabetes. Methods This retrospective multicenter cohort study included patients admitted between December 2022 and January 2023. The patients were grouped according to diabetes and glucocorticoid use. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Results Among 400 patients with glucocorticoid data, 109 (27.3%) had diabetes. The inflammatory cytokines were higher in patients with diabetes, manifested by higher IL-6 (25.33 vs. 11.29 ng/L, p = 0.011), CRP (26.55 vs. 8.62 mg/L, p = 0.003), and PCT (0.07 vs. 0.04 ng/ml, p = 0.010), while CD4+ (319 vs. 506 /mL, p = 0.004) and CD8+ (141 vs. 261 /mL, p