New research has been conducted by scientists to study the differences between male and female immune responses to coronavirus infection. It has been observed by scientists that men, particularly older men tend to get infected severely and are likely to die from new coronavirus infection in comparison to women of similar age. But the exact reason behind this is yet to be ascertained by scientists.
According to the study’s lead author Akiko Iwasaki, a professor at Yale University, in the new study, they have found that “men and women indeed develop different types of immune responses to Covid-19”.
According to the immunity specialist, “these differences may underlie heightened disease susceptibility in men”.
In the study, researchers collected nasal, saliva, and blood samples of non-infected individual participants and those who had the disease and were treated at Yale New Haven Hospital in the United States and then analysed their individual immune responses.
According to researchers, women, involving older ones, were found to have a comparatively more robust immune response which involved T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell that has the ability to identify and kill the viruses).
While men particularly older ones were found to have a weaker immune response. Scientists found that men were producing more cytokines in comparison to women (an inflammatory protein that is responsible for generating natural immunity against the infection). Scientists, in a previous study, have found that overproduction of cytokines known as cytokine storm in coronavirus patients put them at higher risk of death due to its negative effect on the body.
According to the study findings, “Men who showed high concentrations early on were more likely to have a severe case of the disease, while those women who also showed significant cytokine levels also appeared to fare worse”.
Scientists commented that based on research findings, men and women should be treated differently. For instance, men, in their treatment should be provided vaccines that enhance their T cell responses in the body and women should be treated in a way that dampens their cytokine response.
However, the study has several limitations. The sample size of the study has been small and the age of average participants has been around 60 years which is relatively high.
According to Eleanor Riley, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, “Although the average response may differ between men and women, the range of most of the measurements in men and women overlap significantly, meaning that many women have responses that are indistinguishable from those of many men”.
She commented that differences that appeared between immune responses of men or women is likely to be based on their differences in age or BMI and not sex and others could have emerged by chance. She suggested that individual patients should be given treatment based on their individual needs rather than on the basis of their gender.