Key result
Male sex is associated with more severe consequences and a higher death rate from SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to female sex, likely driven by behavioral, genetic, and hormonal differences.
Why the study?
Men with SARS-CoV-2 suffer more severe consequences and higher death rates than women, but sexual-biological differences and their effects on SARS-CoV-2 outcomes have received less scholarly attention.
This review highlights the need to consider sex-specific biological and hormonal differences in SARS-CoV-2 infection to facilitate a personalized medicine approach to risk stratification and treatment.
Men's higher COVID-19 mortality risk warrants sex-stratified monitoring; leaves open mechanistic targets for future trials.
When men are exposed to the coronavirus infection (SARS-CoV-2), compared with women, they will suffer from more severe consequences of this disease, leading to a higher death rate. These differences are probably due to sex-specific behaviors, genetic and hormonal factors, and sex differences in biological pathways associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Several socio-behavioral factors are involved in pathogenesis in men compared to women. However, sexual-biological differences and their effects on SARS-COV-2 outcomes have received less scholarly attention. Sexual-biological differences between healthy populations and age- and sex-specific conditions such as pregnancy and menopause also play a role. More extensive studies on gender-specific differences and robust analyses are needed to determine how gender can alter the cellular and molecular pathways associated with SARS-CoV-2. This will improve biomarker interpretation and clinical management of SARS-COV-2 patients by facilitating a personalized medicine approach to risk stratification, prevention, and treatment. The present review summarizes the available literature on the proposed molecular and cellular markers associated with SARS-COV-2 infection, their association with health outcomes, and any gender-specific variation reported.
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Zaker et al. (2023) conducted a review in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Male sex and sex hormones vs. Female sex was evaluated on SARS-CoV-2 severity and death rate. Male sex is associated with more severe consequences and a higher death rate from SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to female sex, likely driven by behavioral, genetic, and hormonal differences.
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