COVID-19 pandemic: insights into molecular mechanisms leading to sex-based differences in patient outcomes.
Expert Rev Mol Med
; 23: e7, 2021 08 03.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1338496
ABSTRACT
Recent epidemiological studies analysing sex-disaggregated patient data of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) across the world revealed a distinct sex bias in the disease morbidity as well as the mortality - both being higher for the men. Similar antecedents have been known for the previous viral infections, including from coronaviruses, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and middle-east respiratory syndrome (MERS). A sound understanding of molecular mechanisms leading to the biological sex bias in the survival outcomes of the patients in relation to COVID-19 will act as an essential requisite for developing a sex-differentiated approach for therapeutic management of this disease. Recent studies which have explored molecular mechanism(s) behind sex-based differences in COVID-19 pathogenesis are scarce; however, existing evidence, for other respiratory viral infections, viz. SARS, MERS and influenza, provides important clues in this regard. In attempt to consolidate the available knowledge on this issue, we conducted a systematic review of the existing empirical knowledge and recent experimental studies following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The qualitative analysis of the collected data unravelled multiple molecular mechanisms, such as evolutionary and genetic/epigenetic factors, sex-linkage of viral host cell entry receptor and immune response genes, sex hormone and gut microbiome-mediated immune-modulation, as the possible key reasons for the sex-based differences in patient outcomes in COVID-19.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
Gastrointestinal Microbiome
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Immunity
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Expert Rev Mol Med
Journal subject:
Molecular Biology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Erm.2021.9
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS