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Coronavirus: a genetic variation of testosterone explains why men suffer more serious conditions

2021-03-23T13:07:37.804Z


A study done in Italy and Spain associated the lower activity of the receptor for this hormone with a high inflammatory response.


03/23/2021 9:46 AM

  • Clarín.com

  • Society

Updated 03/23/2021 9:46 AM

New research in Europe found that a

genetic variation in the testosterone receptor

predisposes men to

more severe

coronavirus

conditions

.

The study was developed by the University of Siena (Italy) in collaboration with the Bellvitge and Vall d'Hebron hospitals in Barcelona.

This finding may help to understand why men, although infected in the same proportions as women, are

admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) more

and have higher mortality from Covid-19.

In a statement, the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) stressed that the study, published in the journal EBioMedicine, reveals that

the lower activity of the testosterone receptor

is associated with

a high inflammatory response

, common in severe cases of the disease.

Using artificial intelligence, the researchers studied blood samples from 638 people in Italy and identified a gene with various genetic variants that was associated with a better or worse clinical course of the disease: the androgen receptor or testosterone receptor.

Testosterone, key to explain the serious symptoms of coronavirus.

Photo.

Reuters

The variants consisted of having

a different number

of repeats of the amino acid glutamine, that is, repeats followed by one of the pieces that make up the receptor.

Depending on the person, the androgen receptor can have

between 9 and 36 repeats

of this amino acid.

"The results showed that having

less than 23

repeats of this amino acid (short repeats) is associated with

a better prognosis of Covid-19

. On the contrary, if the testosterone receptor has

23 repeats or more

(long repeats), the patients are at

higher risk of being hospitalized

in the ICU, "explained the researcher from the IDIBELL Neurometabolic Diseases group and coordinator of the Spanish team, Aurora Pujol.

To validate the results obtained by the Italian researchers, IDIBELL, together with other centers such as Vall d'Hebron, collected blood samples from 158 men (117 with severe Covid-19 and 41 with Covid-19 asymptomatic or who did not require hospitalization) of another population seriously affected by the pandemic such as Spain.

It was proven, again, that the androgen receptor variants are

a factor that influences

the worse evolution of some men to the coronavirus.

"The effect of these genetic variants is especially important in men because

testosterone is the main male sex hormone

. Furthermore, its receptor is encoded on the X chromosome, of which men have only one copy. In women, this effect is associated with a The most serious Covid-19

would be much less

since, in them, testosterone plays a less relevant role and they have two copies of the X chromosome, "explained the researcher from the VHIR Diagnostic Immunology Research Group and one of the study authors, Roger Colobran.

In cases with long repetitions, the testosterone receptor is less active.

This receptor is responsible for attenuating inflammation, therefore, men who have it less active will have a stronger inflammatory response that is related to the most serious symptoms of Covid-19, explained Colobran.

Thus, those men who have a more active receptor would be

more protected

against the disease due to their better ability to regulate the inflammatory response that occurs.

In addition, in men with longer repetitions - and therefore lower androgen receptor activity - it was observed that the levels of testosterone in the blood were higher than usual.

This can be explained because the fact that the receptor is less active means that

the production of testosterone

is not adequately regulated

.

"The risk posed by these variants in the androgen receptor, as in other genes,

is not as high as it would be with advanced age

, but it helps us to understand more deeply how the disease works, why there are so many differences between individuals and why the most serious forms develop ", has clarified the head of the Pediatric Infectious Pathology and Immunodeficiencies Unit of Vall d'Hebron, Pere Soler-Palacín.

The researchers leading the study remarked that this finding raises the possibility that the administration of testosterone in men with an active receptor could help improve the prognosis of the disease and decrease its mortality.

Source: EFE

DD

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Source: clarin

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