An international study coordinated by the University of Siena in collaboration with several other centres including Sapienza University of Rome shows that specific genetic variants make the testosterone receptor less functional, predisposing male individuals to develop a much more severe COVID-19 disease

The study, published in the prestigious journal EBiomedicine, of the Lancet Group, and carried out in a cohort of more than 600 male patients with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, lays the groundwork for future clinical trials on the use of testosterone in patients carrying these variants.

"We already knew that testosterone was an important modulator of the immune system and potentially implicated in the association between COVID-19 and diabetes," says Andrea Isidori, from the Department of Experimental Medicine at Sapienza University of Rome, "but previous studies were conflicting by merging genetic and endocrine data, we solved such inconsistencies."

The collaborative study, coordinated by Francesca Mari of the University of Siena, indicates that it is the functionality of the androgen receptor, linked to its genetic variants, that is the new key to understanding these discrepancies and the clinical evolution of the infection in the male patient. 

These results were possible thanks to the involvement of patients from all over Italy, recruited by numerous clinical centres as well as by the University Hospital of Siena, and to the interdisciplinary collaboration of the bioengineering group and artificial intelligence experts at the University of Siena, together with the endocrinology groups at Sapienza University.

References:

Shorter androgen receptor polyQ alleles protect against life-threatening COVID-19 disease in European males - Margherita Baldassarri, Nicola Picchiotti, Francesca Fava, Chiara Fallerini, Elisa Benetti, Sergio Daga, Floriana Valentino, Gabriella Doddato, Simone Furini, Annarita Giliberti….Andrea M. Isidori, Alessandra Renieri, Elisa Frullanti, Francesca Mari - EBioMedicinehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103246

Further Information

Andrea Isidori
Department of Experimental Medicine
andrea.isidori@uniroma1.it