(ANSA) - ROME, JANUARY 26 - Men are 1.7 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than women.
It all depends on genetic, hormonal and immune system factors.
To say it are the scholars of Yale University, who in an article published in the journal Science have managed to identify some of the causes. One of the first, the researchers say, comes from basic biology. Women have two X chromosomes, men have one. X chromosomes are important because they are rich in genes that regulate the immune response. Basically, women have immune system 'boosters'. Then, according to Yale researchers, there is also a hormonal issue. In a study conducted on mice infected with Sars-Cov-2, a higher mortality was observed in males: this would be attributed to the protective roles of estrogen, the female sex hormones. Their presence can help suppress Ace 2, a receptor that Sars-Cov-2 uses to enter cells. It has already been noted in the scientific literature that men undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer appear to be less susceptible to coronavirus infections. Also, according to Yale scholars, age amplifies and sometimes sabotages a man's immune response to Sars-Cov-2 infection. Scholars have found that when 60-year-old men begin to lose the ability to mount an initial immune response to the novel coronavirus, there is also often a compensatory overreaction from other immune system molecules that can lead to harmful inflammation. These inflammatory factors can trigger the so-called 'cytokine storm' which can lead to severe damage to the lungs and other tissues. The gene expression pattern that controls innate immune responses to viral infections (the first line of defense against pathogens) begins to decline dramatically in men between 62 and 64, according to the researchers. In women, however, this immune response begins to wear off about six years later. (HANDLE).
