The association of diabetes mellitus (DM) with an increased risk of various infectious diseases has been firmly established. DM (both type 1 and type 2) is considered to be one of the risk factors for severe COVID-19 and death from this infection. DM and COVID-19 mutu- ally aggravate each other. The mechanisms of development of hyperglycemia and DM associated with COVID-19 infection are diverse. They include the direct damaging effects of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on pancreatic β-cells, stress hyperglycemia, glucocorticoid-induced diabetes, as well as the unmasking of previously undiagnosed DM. This article presents some aspects of the broad problem of the relationship between DM and COVID-19 infection. The article provides information on the possibilities of using different classes of hypo- glycemic drugs (metformin, sulfonylurea drugs, thiazolidinediones, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, insulin drugs) during COVID-19 infection, which makes this study rather relevant for practical healthcare. In the article, the authors also present their own data on the analysis of the frequency of hyperglycemia and DM in persons with COVID-19 infection of varying severity, identified factors for an unfavorable prognosis of the course of DM in COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: COVID-19 infection, hypoglycemic drugs, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, insulin, diabetes mellitus, hyperglycemia