A systematic review UCBM-Sapienza demonstrates the importance of testosterone in treating the virus
4 May 2020 - Several studies show that Covid-19 affects men more than women: around 60% of people affected by the virus are male. The reason for this gender difference is to be found in testosterone, a particular type of hormone, studied thanks to an analysis conducted by the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome and Sapienza University of Rome, published in the scientific journal "metabolism".
“In our working hypothesis we have faced the problem of testosterone, the male hormone par excellence, which can be lower or higher with a wide range of variations in the male population – explains Paolo Pozzilli, full professor of Endocrinology atUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and director of Endocrinology and Diabetology of the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital – in particular, we know that testosterone levels decrease with age: therefore elderly subjects, i.e. those most affected by the Coronavirus, are also those with the lowest testosterone”.
Low testosterone levels can cause a reduction in respiratory muscle activity, overall strength, and exercise capacity, while normal circulation of this male hormone shows a respiration-enhancing effect. Furthermore, with low testosterone in the blood, an increase in inflammatory processes is observed which are associated with a worsening of the prognosis of the Covid-19 infection.
"On the other hand, an excess of androgenic activity could also be harmful - Ofchiara Andrea lenzi full professor of Endocrinology at Sapienza and coordinator of the Endocrine Metabolic and Andrological area of the Policlinico Umberto I – in those subjects in whom testosterone works too much, i.e. where there is a different ability of its receptor to transmit its signal. Precisely because one of the proteins that the virus needs to enter cells, called TMPRSS2, is very sensitive to androgens, today there is great attention for the action of the male hormone in the entry mechanisms of the virus. In fact, this protein, regulated by testosterone and for this reason already studied in the neoplastic pathology of the prostate, could in the future become a possible therapeutic target in males affected by COVID-19 infection".
