Health | Female sex hormones could protect against severe forms of Covid-19

(ETX Study) – Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, studies have followed one another to try to demonstrate why some people are less affected than others by the disease. It is now a question of women, as a team of American researchers reveals that female sex hormones may have an anti-inflammatory function that would protect against severe forms of the coronavirus.

Earlier this week, researchers showed that the mumps vaccine could protect against Covid-19, partly explaining why children were less affected by the disease. A team of scientists from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) today reveals that female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone may play a protective role against some symptoms of Covid-19.

Published in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, the research by Graziano Pinna, associate professor of psychiatry at the UIC, examined not only the specific case of pregnant women, but also the differences observed between men and women in the face of severe forms of the disease. It found that the female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, but also allopregnanolone, which comes from progesterone metabolism, played an anti-inflammatory role, affected immune cells, stimulated antibody production, promoted repair of some respiratory cells and inhibited the receptor. ACE2, the path for the coronavirus to enter cells. In other words, these hormones would help protect women from certain symptoms.

It was in March, at the beginning of the epidemic, that Professor Pinna became interested in reproductive hormones. His research began after the publication of several reports that reveal a correlation between worsening symptoms related to Covid-19 in pregnant women and rapidly decreasing levels of estradiol, progesterone and allopregnanolone.

“Hormones that help maintain pregnancy – such as progesterone – are 100 times more concentrated in the third trimester of pregnancy. Estradiol, allopregnanolone and progesterone all have important anti-inflammatory functions and are involved in restoring the immune system. This suggests that women. pregnant became symptomatic (…) after giving birth to their babies due to the rapid decline of these hormones. The correlation was truly amazing, “said the scientist.

An observation confirmed by the data. According to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among the 38,071 pregnant women who contracted Covid-19, 51 died, equal to 0.13%. A rate that rises to 2% for those not expecting a child. “Pregnant women are 15 times less likely to die from Covid-19 than other women,” continues Pinna.

These findings could also help explain why men are suffering from more severe symptoms and more ICU admissions. “This observation in pregnant women provides a significant scientific basis, not only as to why women are more protected than men, but also why older people are less protected than young people, because we know the older you are. the more hormones decrease, “concludes the study’s lead author.