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The coronavirus kills men more than women because the male immune system has a lower T-cell response, which destroys cells infected with the virus, is a revolutionary discovery by scientists at Yale University in the United States, published last week in the journal Nature.
The mechanism of infection
That is, some types of T cells can destroy cells that are infected with the virus, while other types help the body make antibodies that prevent the virus from infecting the cell. The scientists reported that men have a lower T-cell response than women, which is associated with a future worsening of the disease. However, the study was conducted on a relatively small sample for the scientific world, only 17 men and 22 women, who were admitted to the hospital after being tested positively for coronavirus.
Sabra Klein, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University, says that a new study has shown that the male immune system responds to coronavirus differently than the female one.
– I think this study gives interesting clues about immune reactions, which differ between men and women infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but it does not inform us about the mechanisms by which men die twice as often from the virus.
Women with coronavirus had an elevated T-cell response compared to men. In men, it may be necessary to intensify the T-cell response, perhaps with a vaccine, to prevent the disease from getting worse. On the other hand, in women, we may have to “blur” certain reactions to cytokines, that is, prevent a cytokine storm, which can be caused by too strong a T-cell response during infection, to avoid make the disease worse, Dr. Klein told the American media.
The same in Serbia
Klein cautions, however, that there are other biological differences between the sexes, such as genetics or the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone, that are not measured here, and that can also affect the progression of the disease in men and women.
Infectious Diseases Professor Dr. Žarko Ranković says it was first noticed in China, and later in Serbia, that men suffer more from the coronavirus than women:
– It has been noted in our country that the highest mortality rate due to kovid 19 was in men than in women, and these figures did not differ significantly from those of China, for example. Yale is a serious institute and I see no reason not to trust their research. So far little is known about this virus and it is unclear what factors influence men’s T cells to defend themselves less against this virus than against another person.
WHAT ARE T CELLS
- T cells are a type of defense cell whose main task is to find and kill invading pathogenic or infected cells.
- They do this by using proteins on their surface, which can bind to proteins on the surface of the “intruder.”
- T cells can remain in the blood for years after infection.
- l They also contribute to the “long-term memory” of the immune system.
Kurir.rs/ Jelena Pronić Photo: Zorana Jevtić
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