Testosterone replacement

Testosterone replacement therapy doctors in the country have a good reason to believe that low concentration of testosterone in older men’s systems could predispose them to a not so pleasant COVID-19 outcome. And there is a good possibility, too, that this could be the underlying reason, the missing link, why there is a higher fatality rate of coronavirus cases in men as opposed to women.

According to  Conversano Hospital head of outpatient endocrinology clinic in Bari, Italy,  Vito A. Giagulli, MD, Ph.D., men naturally have in their system that biological predisposition to become ill due to COVID-19.

This can stem either from their high plasma testosterone levels as opposed to women, or from age-associated low-T levels. Considering also that low-T level is a crucial frailty parameter, it would pave the way for severe and likely very fatal COVID-19 infection among men.

Disparity in Outcomes

Relevant data on COVID-19 cases gathered from around the world reveal that both sexes, men and women, are equally prone to contract the new novel coronavirus. This is the virus species that leads to COVID-19 disease.

However, the number of patients being admitted to hospitals due to viruses that are aggravated by serious clinical events such as pulmonary distress, renal injury, acute cardiovascular injury, disseminated intravascular coagulation, or multiple-organ failure, by virtue of statistics, is much higher for men versus women.

After taking a closer look, TRT Perth doctors and the global medical community are under suspicion that there might be a handful of specific factors that are inducing bias for poor prognosis in men that are affected by COVID-19.

In a review of published related literature, Andrology reported that observational data indicate that patients that come with worse clinical progression – most of the time older adults who happen to have 1 or several underlying chronic diseases – are likely suffering from hypogonadism, too.

Furthermore, the ACE2 or the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, which is vital for the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into host cells, is also utilized by the male body, particularly in the testes. They also added that the results only goes to show that SARS-CoV-2 may bring about the infection to the testicles, and thus may impact the production of testosterone in younger patients.

So that in cases of more senior men,  or of those men with dysmetabolic diseases such as low serum testosterone level and obesity can predispose them with an impaired response of the immune system. Thus, paving the way for the worst scenario of SARS-CoV-2 infection in men.

A handful of recent studies show that low amounts of plasma testosterone, observed to be a common denominator among men with obesity or older men, including men suffering from other kinds of chronic or persistent diseases,  could pave the way for an impaired CV function, systemic inflammation, thromboembolism and worse outcomes of COVID-19 infection. 

TRT Perth doctors, together with the global medical community, agrees with the supposition that testosterone itself predisposes men to suffer from having a less effective immune response against infections.

Hypogonadism in men, a condition characterized by diminished production of the male sex hormone, could be the triggering factor for a detrimental cytokine dysfunction. This could also be accountable for why men with COVID-19 are likely to suffer from poor prognosis.