Data in hand, the Coronavirus seems to be decidedly more lethal for men without any distinction of age. Why all this happens
It is a question that doctors and scientists have been asking for some time. And thanks to a recent study published in the scientific journal MedRxiv, perhaps we have the first answers. This is why males show more severe symptoms when they are affected by Covid-19. Coronavirus deadliest for men
Thanks to a very recent study conducted by researchers from Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, we may have solved a mystery concerning the new coronavirus pandemic: why men are more likely to die from Coronavirus
The reason, judging by the results of the research, would be due to the way in which they eliminate the virus from their bodies. Males, in fact, would eliminate it more slowly due to a natural reservoir that women do not possess. Men get rid of the virus with more difficulty
The data, obtained thanks to the collaboration of the Kasturba hospital for infectious diseases in Mumbai, show, in fact, that men have greater difficulty in eliminating the virus. “COVID-19 studies around the world have consistently shown higher incidence and greater severity of the disease in men than women,” explains Aditi Shastri, physician, assistant professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, clinical oncologist at the Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Treatment, and lead author of the Montefiore-Einstein study. “Our collaborative study found that men have a harder time clearing the coronavirus after infection, which could explain their more serious problems with COVID-19 disease.” Viral clearance analysis
To investigate the matter, the scientists analyzed the viral clearance of 68 people, of whom 48 were men. All the volunteers were affected by Covid 19. Immediately they were subjected to swabs to highlight the time in which the infection was still active in the human body. The results showed that women were able to eliminate the virus much faster than men. The average for women was 4 days, while for men 6. Even these results, however, raise a new question: why men should take longer to dispose of the virus What happens during Coronavirus infection
To answer the many questions the scientists were asking during the study, they decided to analyze how the virus infects our cells. Coronaviruses, the researchers explain, attach to certain proteins called ACE2. They sprout like a kind of antennae on the cell surfaces. In theory, cells with a high number of ACE2 are more susceptible to Covid infections. At this point, the research team examined various data entered in the scientific databases to verify which tissues are with a greater expression of ACE2. And … surprise! It seems that – in addition to the lungs and kidneys – the testes also possess a high amount of these receptors. In contrast, in the ovaries – the equivalent of the testes for men – there is no trace of the receptor.The Coronavirus lurks in the testicles
The reason why the Coronavirus would be more lethal for men is the fact that it is deposited (also) in the testicles
Dr. Shastri is keen to clarify that the ability of the new coronavirus to infect and multiply in the testicular tissue it needs to be confirmed, but he says it would not surprise him at all to know that this is the problem. Sex hormones, testes and Covid-19
Another study, conducted in China, would have noticed a testicular impairment caused by the Covid-19 virus. All of this could confirm the hypothesis of Dr. Shastri’s team. Further clinical studies should be performed to verify any strategies to be adopted in male patients with Coronavirus.
Fonti scientifiche
Delayed clearance of SARS-CoV2 in male compared to female patients: High ACE2 expression in testes suggests possible existence of gender-specific viral reservoirs – MedRxiv
Slower Clearance of Coronavirus Infection May Explain Why Men Fare Worse Than Women – Albert Einstein College of Medicine
