A recent study has uncovered crucial insights into how a patient’s testosterone levels may offer protection against severe COVID-19. Researchers have been diligently examining this topic and their results could greatly influence public health strategies and future treatments.
Currently, Professor John Manning, an expert in digit ratios from the Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise, and Medicine (A-STEM) research team, is collaborating with researchers from Poland and Sweden to further explore this area.
He states that their findings, now published in the journal Andrology, could significantly impact public health and future therapeutic approaches.
Professor Manning noted, “Covid-19 exhibits considerable variation in severity among different countries and individuals, being particularly severe in older men. This observation has led to hypotheses suggesting that testosterone might play a role in this severity, although it remains uncertain whether testosterone levels contribute to increased or decreased severity.”
“Alongside my colleagues in Poland and Sweden, we’ve been analyzing testosterone-dependent finger patterns in hospitalized patients compared to control groups.”
He elaborated that there are two conflicting theories: the low-androgen-driven hypothesis and the high-androgen-driven hypothesis. The former posits that high testosterone may facilitate viral infection, while the latter suggests that low testosterone levels in older men heighten their inflammatory immune response to COVID-19, resulting in worse outcomes.
In this latest research, the team investigated sex differences in the relative lengths of fingers among hospitalized patients and controls. It is believed that these differences stem from exposure to testosterone and/or estrogen either in the womb or during puberty. Longer index fingers are associated with lower testosterone and higher estrogen levels, whereas longer little fingers are associated with higher testosterone and lower estrogen levels.
The study, carried out at the Medical University of Lodz in Poland, looked at two samples taken before and after the widespread rollout of vaccines. In both instances, hospitalized patients displayed shorter little fingers compared to the control individuals.
Professor Manning stated, “The digit ratios of the patients suggested low testosterone levels prior to and following birth. This pattern was evident both at the onset of the pandemic and after the mass vaccination efforts.”
“This allows us to deduce that testosterone likely provides protection against severe Covid-19. This protective effect may be linked to the hormone’s ability to reduce inflammation in the lungs and other organs, pointing to important public health and treatment ramifications.”
