Studies have shown COVID-19 hits men harder than women, both in severity and mortality, and researchers say part of the reason why could be linked to the gene known to cause a form of hair loss in males.
A group of researchers led by Dr. Andy Goren, chief medical officer at Applied Biology Inc. in Irvine, California, first suspected the link when they noticed men with a common form of hormone-sensitive hair loss, known as androgenetic alopecia, were also more prone to being hospitalized with COVID-19.
“Among hospitalized men with COVID-19, 79% presented with androgenetic alopecia compared to 31%-53% that would be expected in a similar aged match population,” the researchers said while presenting their findings last week at the virtual spring meeting of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.
Androgenetic alopecia is caused by the androgen receptor gene, which can cause hair loss in some men. An enzyme called TMPRSS2, which is key to COVID-19 infection, is also androgen-sensitive, the researchers said, and might be affected by the androgen receptor gene.
The group said one segment on the androgen receptor gene appears to affect both COVID-19 severity and if men will lose their hair because of androgenetic alopecia.
In the study, Goren’s group conducted a genetic analysis of 65 men hospitalized with COVID-19. They found that men with certain structural differences in the androgen receptor gene were more likely to develop severe COVID-19. Goren said in a press release the androgen receptor gene aberration “could be used as a biomarker to help identify male COVID-19 patients most at risk for ICU admissions.”
He also said he believes “the identification of a biomarker connected with the androgen receptor is another piece of evidence highlighting the important role of androgens (male hormones) in COVID-19 disease severity.”
Because the findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
“While the study is small and the exact association is not completely understood, it may show at least one answer to why men were more likely to be admitted to ICU and have overall higher morality with COVID-19 infections,” Dr. Teresa Murray Amato, chair of emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in New York City, told medicalexpress.com.
More research is needed to see if “medications that block androgen receptors will be useful in treating a subset of (COVID-19) patients,” she said.
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