the Researchers found that taking anti-androgenic drugs that suppress testosterone synthesis, reduced the risk of death for men from the virus about four times.
TASS, 7 may. the Doctors, watching the health state of cancer patients undergoing COVID-19, found that taking anti-androgenic drugs that suppress testosterone synthesis, reduced the risk of death for men from the virus about four times. On Thursday reported press service European society for medical Oncology (ESMO).
“I hope that our observations will inspire other physicians to conduct clinical trials using antiandrogens to fight COVID-19. Of course, we need more data, but the collected data speak in favor of hypotheses linking the increased vulnerability of men with the work of the sex hormones” — leads press service ESMO words Andrea Alimonti, Professor of the University of Lugano (Switzerland).
Almost from the first days after the beginning of the epidemic of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the doctors began to notice that it causes a disease COVID-19 much more often infects and kills men than women.
These differences biologists initially linked with the fact that pneumocyte light men contain significantly more molecules of the receptor ACE2 and TMPRSS2 protein, which the virus uses to penetrate cells, than a similar Taurus in the respiratory tract of women. Subsequently, the opinions of experts were divided, though most physicians continued to believe that men are more prone to this disease.
Professor Alimonti and his colleagues found that new evidence and a possible explanation for why men are much more vulnerable to attacks coronavirus, observing the development of COVID-19 among the ten thousand residents of Venice, half of whom were men.
a Significant portion of them, about 10% suffered from various forms of cancer, including prostate tumors. This observation led scientists to test how the presence of such tumors affect the probability of death from COVID-19. On average, the presence of cancer have nearly doubled the chance of dying of the Venetians against the virus, however, in the case of prostate cancer it was not always so.
In particular, the researchers found that men who took the antiandrogen drugs, not just 4-5 times less likely to have died from SARS-CoV-2, than other cancer patients, but also significantly easier endured a viral infection. For example, only four men of 5 273 residents of Venice, who took these medications had ill COVID-19. None of them died, which was not typical for those of the Venetians, who such drugs are not prescribed.
For this reason, Alimonti and his colleagues suggest that medications that block the Synthe�� testosterone, may to act positively on the health of all men sick COVID-19, not just cancer patients. They propose to test this theory in the framework of ongoing or planned clinical trials using antiandrogens to those whose temporary admission does not cause irreversible changes in the organism of men.
