Female Sex Hormone Effects on the Vasculature: Considering the Validity of Restricting Study Inclusion to Low-Hormone Phases

Background: Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a newly emerged pandemic leading to a state of international alert with millions of infected individuals and thousands of deaths all over the world. Analysis of statistics and epidemiological data for the pandemic outcome pinpointed a puzzling influence of human sex on the heterogeneous outcome of COVID-19, where hospital admissions and mortality were higher among males than females. Two theories explained the observed male-biased COVID-19 mortality based on either dosage of immunoregulatory genes coded in X- chromosomes or on the abundance of the angiotensin-converting enzyme two (ACE2) receptors in males than females. Objective: In our study, we propose a third scenario through virtual screening of direct antiviral effects of sex hormones. Materials & Methods: Updated screening statistics from 47 countries displaying sex-disaggregated data on COVID-19 were employed and visualized in the form of heatmaps depicting sex difference effects on statistics of cases and deaths. Molecular docking and binding simulations of investigated sex steroids against COVID-19 specific proteins were investigated. Results: Analysis of COVID-19 sex-disaggregated data confirmed that male-biased mortality and computer-aided docking found unexpected female sex hormones biased binding against key targets implicated in the life cycle of COVID-19 compared to the male sex hormone testosterone. Other investigated steroids showed promising docking scores, while the male sex hormone exhibited the lowest affinity. Conclusion: Female sex hormones virtually exhibited direct COVID-19 effect. The proposed antiviral effect of sex hormones should be considered to explain the outcomes of mortality; moreover, the fluctuation of sex hormones influences sex and personal derived-differential response to COVID-19 infection.

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Female sex hormone receptors and their importance in clinical practice

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology ◽

10.1016/s0002-9378(16)33079-4 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 134 (4) ◽

pp. 385-389 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ronald W. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Hormone Receptors ◽

Sex Hormone ◽

Female Sex

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Effect of female sex hormone supplementation and withdrawal on gastrointestinal and colonic transit in postmenopausal women

Neurogastroenterology & Motility ◽

10.1111/j.1365-2982.2006.00808.x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 18 (10) ◽

pp. 911-918 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

j. gonenne ◽

t. esfandyari ◽

m. camilleri ◽

d. d. burton ◽

d. a. stephens ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Postmenopausal Women ◽

Colonic Transit ◽

Sex Hormone ◽

Female Sex

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The female sex hormone

Kazan medical journal ◽

10.17816/kazmj64766 ◽

1926 ◽

Vol 22 (5-6) ◽

pp. 732

Author(s):

A. Timofeev

Keyword(s):

Corpus Luteum ◽

Sex Hormone ◽

Sexual Cycle ◽

Female Sex

The female sex hormone, on which the onset of puberty, the frequency of the sexual cycle and the persistence of the corpus luteum during pregnancy depend, according to the experiments of Frank, Hobert and Gustavson (Jour. Of Amer. Med. Assoc., Vol. 84, no. 23, 1925) is contained in the fluid of the follicle and in the endocrine products of the corpus luteum and placenta.

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