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The coronavirus tends to affect men more severely than women, and although this puzzle remains difficult to date, scientists are investigating this problem with great effort and attention.
And previous research into respiratory diseases had revealed the possibility that estrogen and sexual testosterone may play a role in this. Or maybe the reason is because the X chromosome (where women have two, rather than just one in men) contains more immunity-related genes, giving women a stronger immune system to fight the Corona virus. Some theories have also suggested that the virus can hide in the testes, where there is widespread expression of ACE2 receptors, the gateway that allows SARS-CoV-2 to enter cells.
Of course, the true cause must be revealed, as it can help improve “the patient’s recovery outcomes during an active public health crisis,” according to a research paper published April 10 in the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine ( WJEM).
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– What are the numbers?
Since the first known case of “Covid 19” was reported in China late last year, countless studies have shown that the disease tends to be more severe and fatal in men than in women.
For example, in an analysis of 5,700 coronavirus patients hospitalized in New York City, more than 60% of them were found to be male, according to a study conducted April 22 and published in the journal JAMA. “Mortality rates were higher for men than for women,” the researchers wrote in the study.
In addition, of the 373 patients who ended up in intensive care units, 66.5% were male, according to the JAMA study.
When the WJEM Editorial was published in early April, the authors noted that between 51% and 66.7% of hospitalized patients in Wuhan, China were men: 58% in Italy were men; 70% of all deaths associated with Covid 19 Male worldwide.
In a large study of more than 44,600 people with Covid 19 in China, 2.8% of men died compared to just 1.7% of women.
Are men more sensitive to the disease?
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An editorial from WJEM revealed that in other coronavirus outbreaks, including the SARS outbreak in 2003 and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012, death rates were higher for men than for women. For example, a 2016 study found that the risk of men dying from MERS was 40% higher than that of women.
Men tend to have poor immune responses to respiratory viruses that cause influenza and colds. As a result, they develop more severe symptoms of these viruses than women, according to a 2017 review by BMJ. Results are based on differences in “sex hormones” in men and women.
An experiment in mice provides clues to this hormonal puzzle. When scientists infected male and female mice (of all ages) with SARS, male mice were more likely to become infected than females in the same age group, according to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Immunology. However, when the ovaries were removed from female mice, or treated with estrogen receptor blockers, they died at higher rates than those retained by the ovaries and normal estrogen.
Speaking to Live Science, Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immune biology at Yale University School of Medicine, said: “These data indicate that sex hormones produced by female mice can help defend against coronaviruses such as SARS and SARS-CoV. -2 “.
For more information, scientists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and Stony Brook University’s Renaissance College of Medicine in New York are testing estrogen or another sex hormone called progesterone in small groups of people with the Corona virus.
Another way of looking at the effect of the crown varies by gender: the X chromosome may be protective because it contains more immuno-linked genes than the Y chromosome. WJEM editorial authors indicated that this may also explain why women are more likely. than men from having autoimmune diseases.
Speaking to NPR, Vina Tanega, who studies differences in the male and female immune systems, at Mayo Clinic, said that the second X chromosome is generally silenced in women, but almost 10% of these genes can be turned on. She added: “Many of these genes are actually genes intended for the immune response.” This could give women a “double dose” of protection, although research is needed to see if these genes are part of the “Covid 19” protection.
– Hidden in the testicles?
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New research offers another idea that says: It appears that men are shedding the buildup of SARS-CoV-2 in their bodies, more slowly than women. To explain this possibility, the researchers suggested that the virus may have found a hiding place in men: the testicles.
In the research, published in the medRxiv database, 68 people confirmed that they were infected with the Corona virus in Mumbai, India, underwent nasal surveys until the results turned negative. At the end of the experiment, the researchers found that women shed the virus from their bodies in an average of 4 days, compared to an average of 6 days in men. The same test for 3 different families in Mumbai found similar results.
Previous research showed that SARS-CoV-2 invades specific human cells by binding to the ACE2 receptors on these cells. So the researchers analyzed a database and found that there are high levels of ACE2 receptors in the testes. In contrast, ACE2 was not detected in ovaries in women.
However, the research did not actually search the testicles to see if SARS-CoV-2 was hidden there, so “it doesn’t tell us if the virus infects the testicles or if they are reservoirs of the virus,” Iwasaki said, who did not participate in the study. .
Other research has suggested that smoking may play a role in this, because smoking is associated with high ACE2 receptor expression. But while there are more men who smoke in China than women, this does not apply to other countries.
There are other explanations: Women are simply less likely to be involved in health risks and are better at washing their hands, according to studies. This may explain the difference in incidence and mortality rates between the sexes.
Source: life sciences
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