Doctors wonder if giving two female sex hormones could make men more likely to get the new coronavirus.
Across the world, women from most countries are less likely to become abruptly sick from the virus and less likely to die from it.
This has left many researchers wondering whether the hormones mainly produced in women could be protective, reported The New York Times.
Two hospitals in the U.S. are now testing that theory and giving men estrogen or progesterone for a limited time to see if it boosts their immune systems, reduces inflammation, and reduces the severity of the disease.
Some researchers believe that more men than women die from coronavirus due to the female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone (photo)
Stony Brook University in New York and Cedars-Sinai in California (photo) each give male coronavirus patients one of two hormones
The differences in mortality rates between men and women became apparent early in the pandemic.
Last month, the Italian public health research agency said that more than 70 percent of deaths in the country were men.
And in February, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that the mortality rate among men with coronavirus was 65 percent higher than among women.
Scientists say they don’t know why women are less likely to die, but have suggested that women naturally have a stronger immune system and less chance of long-term health problems that make patients more vulnerable.
In China, researchers pointed to men who smoke and drink more often, but this was a cultural factor that may be different in other countries.
This quickly became apparent in the US. In New York, more than 60 percent of state deaths were among men.
Early research has suggested that the hormones may reduce the number of ACE2 receptors on the cell surfaces that the virus uses to enter the body.
The Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in Long Island, New York is going to investigate estrogen, which is the primary female sex hormone.
Estrogen aids in the development and regulation of the female reproductive system and plays a role in secondary sex characteristics.
Dr. Sharon Nachman, head of the childhood infectious diseases department, told The Times that the trial was its first participant last week.
She hopes to achieve preliminary results in the coming months.
“It’s all out of the box, and that’s how good ideas often start,” said Dr. Nachman, Dean of Research at the Renaissance School, part of the State University of New York.
The Stony Brook University estrogen study hopes to recruit 110 patients who visit the emergency room and have symptoms such as coughing, fever, or shortness of breath.
They should test positive for COVID-19 – the disease caused by the virus – or are believed to have it as long as they don’t need to be intubated.
They will see if the hormones boost male patients’ immune systems, reduce inflammation and reduce the severity of the disease. Pictured: U.S. Army members examine a patient’s X-ray results at New York’s Javits New York Medical Station, April 18
Early research has suggested that the hormones may reduce the number of ACE2 receptors on the cell surfaces that the virus uses to enter the body. Pictured: Physicians willing to intubate a patient with COVID-19 symptoms at home in Yonkers, New York, April 6
Half receive an estradiol patch for a week and the other half receive a control group. Researchers will see if the hormone helps reduce the severity of the disease.
The hypothesis is that the hormone can help clear the infection and prevent cytokine storms, which is when the body not only fights the virus but also attacks its own cells and tissues.
“We may not understand exactly how estrogen works, but we may be able to see how the patient is doing,” Dr. Nachman to The Times.
Although we see that women get infected, their reactions are different. We see that fewer of them have the second, dysregulated immune response. ‘
Next week, researchers in Los Angeles will start testing another sex hormone that’s mostly found in women, progesterone.
It has been shown to reduce inflammation and prevent the immune system from overreacting to external pathogens.
“There is a striking difference between the number of men and women in intensive care, and men are clearly doing worse,” Dr. Sara Ghandehari, a pulmonologist and intensive care physician at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told The Times.
She told the newspaper that 75 percent of her hospital’s intensive care patients and ventilator patients are men.
About 40 male patients will participate in the Cedars-Sinai study, all of whom have tested positive for the virus and have mild to moderate cases.
Half of the participants receive two shots of progesterone per day for five days and the other half are in a control group.
Researchers will see if this helps control their oxygen levels and avoid the need to go to the ICU or be intubated.
As with the estrogen study, the theory is that progesterone will also prevent cytokine storms.
Dr. Ghandedari said she also saw that the majority are ill pregnant women, who usually have high levels of both hormones, have an average case of the virus.
“So something about being a woman is protective, and something about pregnancy is protective, and that gets us thinking about hormones,” she said.
Both hospitals told The Times that all male participants are warned of possible side effects such as hot flashes and breast tenderness.
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