The Covid pandemic has put human existence in jeopardy for more than a few years now. Speculation of a more vulnerable group remains controversial, as new studies decode new possibilities. A latest study by researchers at Osaka University in Japan may now define why men are more at risk from coronavirus disease than any other sex.
Men show a higher risk from COVID-19 infection but the cellular basis underlying this difference is not fully understood. Researchers have identified sex-specific differences in the production of a type of immune cell and antibody as part of the response to Covid-19, which may explain why men are more at risk from the disease.
Researchers have now revealed sex-specific differences In a type of immune cell called regulatory T cells, or “Treg cells” and in the production of proteins called antibodies.
The production of antibodies is erratic in the “humoral response” to COVID-19. Treg cells were suspected to be responsible for this, as their role in the immune system is to regulate other immune cells and suppress their activities to control the strength of the immune response.
T-follicular regulatory cells (Tfr cells), a subset of the Treg cell population are responsible for the control of antibody production.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that male patients lose proliferation of Tfr cells at a faster rate than female patients.
The researchers also identified sex-specific differences in the entire network of different cell types associated with the production of antibodies. Many COVID patients begin to produce “autoantibodies” as part of their response to the virus.
These antibodies are aimed at proteins produced by the human body instead of targeting viruses and can neutralize protective host factorsAnd their production may play an important role in the progression of the infection.
The team used an approach known as single-cell proteomics, by mass spectrometry, to identify and analyze individual immune cells.
This revealed that in patients with COVID-19 there is a change in the ratio between the circulating Tfr cells and the network of other cells associated with antibody production, which in turn strongly correlated with antibody levels.
According to the researchers, a sex bias was observed in this response, with females having more circulating Tfr cells, while males had higher antibody levels.
“This provides important cellular evidence of dysregulated antibody responses in COVID-19 patients,” said James Badger Wing, senior study author.
“cTfr deficiency was observed in all COVID-19 patients, but particularly in males, this may underlie dysregulated antibody production,” Wing said.
Identifying this cellular basis for the known sex-specific differences will be important in protecting everyone, especially those most at risk, the researchers said.
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