Could Lower Testosterone in Older Men Explain Higher COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortalities?

The health scourge imposed on humanity by the COVID-19 pandemic seems not to recede. This fact warrants refined and novel ideas analyzing different aspects of the illness. One such aspect is related to the observation that most COVID-19 casualties were older males, a tendency also noticed in the epidemics of SARS-CoV in 2003 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome in 2012. This gender-related difference in the COVID-19 death toll might be directly involved with testosterone (TEST) and its plasmatic concentration in men. TEST has been demonstrated to provide men with anti-inflammatory and immunological advantages. As the plasmatic concentration of this androgen decreases with age, the health benefit it confers also diminishes. Low plasmatic levels of TEST can be determinant in the infection’s outcome and might be related to a dysfunctional cell Ca2+ homeostasis. Not only does TEST modulate the activity of diverse proteins that regulate cellular calcium concentrations, but these proteins have also been proven to be necessary for the replication of many viruses. Therefore, we discuss herein how TEST regulates different Ca2+-handling proteins in healthy tissues and propose how low TEST concentrations might facilitate the replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus through the lack of modulation of the mechanisms that regulate intracellular Ca2+ concentrations.

The Franks of Outremer and their Western Brethren: examining the conflict through Roman Expansion in the Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli (1230’s—1280’s)

Статья посвящена одной из главных тем и концептов в историографии крестовых походов – конфликту между западными крестоносцами «первого поколения» и франками Заморской земли (Outremer), т.е. теми, кто был рожден на Ближнем Востоке и не знал иного дома, кроме городов и долин Леванта. Автор критически анализирует концептуальные воззрения на суть данного конфликта в историографии XIX-XXI вв. и рассматривает полувековой опыт экспансии римской знати в княжестве Антиохийском и графстве Триполийском (инициированной браком князя Боэмунда V со знатной римлянкой, Люсьен де Сеньи). В отличие от широко-известного конфликта между братьями Лузиньянами и палестинскими баронами в 1180-х гг., экспансия римлян в Триполи и Антиохии действительно может служить редким и полноценным примером острого конфликта между притязаниями западных нобилей и интересами местных, левантийских элит на Латинском Востоке. The article deals with one of the main themes and concepts in the historiography of the Crusades – the conflict between the western, «first generation» Crusaders and pilgrims with the Franks of Outremer, those who were born and knew no home outside of the Middle East. The author critically examines the perception of the conflict in the 19th—21st century historiography, and proceeds with a study of the 50-year period of Roman aristocratic expansion in the Principality of Antioch and County of Tripoli (made possible through the marriage of Prince Bohemond V with the Roman noblewoman Lucien de Segni). This expansion – unlike the infamous clash between the Lusignan brothers and the Palestinian nobility in the 1180’s – was perhaps the purest manifestation of the conflict between consolidated western expansion and the local Levantine elites in the Crusader States.