For COVID-19 and all other infectious diseases, metabolic processes are intimately connected to the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and the resulting pathology and pathophysiology, as well as the host defence response to the infection. This article discusses why preexisting metabolic abnormalities, such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension, may be important risk factors for severe and critical cases of infection, highlighting parallels between the pathophysiology of these metabolic abnormalities and the disease course of COVID-19. It also discusses how metabolism at the cellular, tissue and organ levels might be harnessed to promote defence against the infection, with a focus on disease-tolerance mechanisms, and speculate on the long-term metabolic consequences for survivors of COVID-19.
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