Scientists at Yale University in the United States have explained why men are 1.7 times more likely to die from coronavirus than women. The solution to the mystery of sex differences in the development of severe symptoms of COVID-19 is reported in the journal Science.
One explanation, the researchers said, is that women have two X chromosomes, which are rich in genes that regulate immune responses. Although one of the X chromosomes is muted as a result of the gene dosage compensation mechanism, some DNA is able to activate the innate immune system.
The female sex hormone estrogen also plays a protective role, which is able to block the ACE2 receptor used by the coronavirus to enter cells. That being said, male hormones androgens appear to enhance the virus's ability to infect cells.
Men over the age of 60 begin to lose their primary immune response to SARS-CoV-2, but they often have an over-compensatory response from other immune system molecules, which can lead to a deadly systemic inflammation known as a cytokine storm.
