High-Fat High-Sugar Diet-Induced Changes in the Lipid Metabolism Are Associated with Mildly Increased COVID-19 Severity and Delayed Recovery in the Syrian Hamster

Pre-existing comorbidities such as obesity or metabolic
diseases can adversely affect the clinical outcome of COVID-19. Chronic
metabolic disorders are globally on the rise and often a consequence of an
unhealthy diet, referred to as a Western Diet. For the first time in the Syrian
hamster model, we demonstrate the detrimental impact of a continuous high-fat
high-sugar diet on COVID-19 outcome. We observed increased weight loss and lung
pathology, such as exudate, vasculitis, hemorrhage, fibrin, and edema, delayed
viral clearance and functional lung recovery, and prolonged viral shedding.
This was accompanied by an altered, but not significantly different, systemic
IL-10 and IL-6 profile, as well as a dysregulated serum lipid response
dominated by polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing phosphatidylethanolamine,
partially recapitulating cytokine and lipid responses associated with severe
human COVID-19. Our data support the hamster model for testing restrictive or
targeted diets and immunomodulatory therapies to mediate the adverse effects of
metabolic disease on COVID-19.