Since the pandemic began, men have died from COVID-19 at measurably higher rates than women — a disparity that has long resisted clean explanation. Now, American researchers have traced part of that vulnerability to the androgen receptor gene, the same genetic thread responsible for male pattern baldness, which appears to amplify the body's susceptibility to severe coronavirus infection by influencing a key enzyme the virus exploits to enter human cells. The finding, presented in May 2021, is preliminary but consequential: it suggests that a visible, common trait may quietly signal deeper biol
Baldness gene linked to higher COVID-19 severity in men
A genetic flag that would help doctors identify which male patients face the highest risk
Mark
So you're saying that going bald and getting severely ill from COVID are connected through the same gene?
Mimi
Not quite—they're both influenced by the same gene, but they're separate outcomes. The AR gene makes some men sensitive to male hormones in a way that causes hair loss. That same sensitivity appears to affect how the coronavirus infects cells.
Mark
How did researchers even notice this connection?
Mimi
They looked at their hospitalized COVID patients and realized an unusually high percentage of the men had male pattern baldness. That observation was the starting point—they then did genetic testing to see if there was a biological link.
Mark
And they found one?
Mimi
They found that men with certain variations in the AR gene were more likely to be severely ill. It's not that baldness causes COVID severity; it's that the genetic variation that predisposes you to baldness also seems to make you more vulnerable to the virus.
Mark
Could this lead to actual treatment?
Mimi
Possibly. If androgen-blocking drugs could reduce the virus's ability to infect cells, they might help. But that's still theoretical. The research is preliminary—it was presented at a conference, not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Mark
Why does this matter if it's just one piece of the puzzle?
Mimi
Because it's a concrete biological explanation for something we've observed since the start of the pandemic: men get sicker from COVID than women do. Even a partial answer helps us understand the disease better and points toward new ways to protect vulnerable people.
Der Puls
- Men have died from COVID-19 at disproportionately higher rates than women throughout the pandemic, and the biological reason has remained frustratingly elusive.
- A striking observation lit the fuse: 79% of hospitalized male COVID-19 patients showed male pattern baldness, nearly double or more what would be expected in the general population.
- Researchers at Applied Biology Inc. identified the AR gene — governing androgen sensitivity and hair loss — as also regulating TMPRSS2, the very enzyme the coronavirus hijacks to infect human cells.
- An independent emergency medicine specialist confirmed the correlation between higher androgen receptor counts and higher ICU admission rates, lending outside credibility to the small but pointed study.
- The path forward is cautiously hopeful: AR gene variants may become biomarkers for identifying high-risk male patients, and androgen-blocking drugs are now being eyed as a potential therapeutic avenue.
Since the pandemic began, men have died from COVID-19 at measurably higher rates than women — a disparity that has long resisted clean explanation. Now, American researchers have traced part of that vulnerability to the androgen receptor gene, the same genetic thread responsible for male pattern baldness, which appears to amplify the body's susceptibility to severe coronavirus infection by influencing a key enzyme the virus exploits to enter human cells. The finding, presented in May 2021, is preliminary but consequential: it suggests that a visible, common trait may quietly signal deeper biological risk, and that the hormonal architecture of the male body may be both its signature and, in this case, its liability.
Men have died from COVID-19 at higher rates than women throughout the pandemic — a pattern researchers have struggled to explain biologically. A team at Applied Biology Inc. in Irvine, California, believes they have found at least one piece of the answer, and it begins with hair.
Among men hospitalized with COVID-19, 79 percent showed signs of androgenetic alopecia — the hormone-driven hair loss common in men. In a comparable general population, only 31 to 53 percent would typically show the condition. The gap was impossible to dismiss. Dr. Andy Goren and his colleagues analyzed the genetics of 65 hospitalized men and found that those carrying certain variants of the androgen receptor gene — the AR gene — were significantly more likely to develop severe disease.
The AR gene governs sensitivity to male hormones and, in some men, triggers hair loss. But it also appears to regulate TMPRSS2, an enzyme the coronavirus uses to infiltrate human cells. The two phenomena — baldness and viral vulnerability — share a common genetic root.
Goren presented the findings in May 2021 at a virtual meeting of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, proposing that AR gene variants could serve as biomarkers to flag high-risk male patients before their condition deteriorates. Dr. Teresa Murray Amato, an emergency medicine specialist at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills who reviewed the research independently, confirmed the correlation between androgen receptor density and ICU admission rates, while noting the study's small size and incomplete mechanistic picture.
The research remains preliminary — presented at a conference rather than published in a peer-reviewed journal — but it opens a meaningful door. Whether androgen-blocking medications might protect vulnerable men from severe illness is the next question waiting to be asked.
Men have died from COVID-19 at higher rates than women since the pandemic began, a disparity that has puzzled researchers searching for biological explanations. Now a team of American scientists thinks they've found at least one answer: a gene that causes male pattern baldness may also make men more vulnerable to severe coronavirus infection.
The connection emerged when researchers noticed something striking in their hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Among the men sick enough to require hospital care, 79 percent showed signs of androgenetic alopecia—the medical term for the common, hormone-driven hair loss that affects millions of men. In a comparable age-matched population without COVID-19, only 31 to 53 percent would typically display this condition. The gap was too large to ignore.
Dr. Andy Goren and his team at Applied Biology Inc. in Irvine, California, decided to investigate. They analyzed the genetics of 65 hospitalized men with COVID-19 and found that those carrying certain variations in the androgen receptor gene—the AR gene—were significantly more likely to develop severe disease. The AR gene is responsible for sensitivity to male hormones, and in some men, this sensitivity triggers hair loss. But the same gene appears to influence something else entirely: the activity of an enzyme called TMPRSS2, which the coronavirus uses to infect human cells.
The researchers presented their findings in May 2021 at a virtual meeting of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. Goren suggested that variations in the AR gene could eventually serve as a biomarker—a genetic flag that would help doctors identify which male COVID-19 patients face the highest risk of needing intensive care. He also emphasized that the discovery points to a broader truth: male hormones appear to play a meaningful role in determining how severely the virus affects men.
Dr. Teresa Murray Amato, chair of emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in New York City, reviewed the research without being involved in it. She confirmed that the study showed a clear correlation between higher numbers of androgen receptors and higher rates of ICU admission among COVID-19 patients. She acknowledged the limitations—the study was small, and the exact mechanism remains incompletely understood—but saw it as a partial answer to a persistent question. "It may show at least one answer to why men were more likely to be admitted to ICU and have overall higher mortality with COVID-19 infections," she said.
The next frontier, according to Amato, is determining whether drugs that block androgen receptors might help treat certain COVID-19 patients. That research has not yet been conducted. Because these findings were presented at a medical conference rather than published in a peer-reviewed journal, they remain preliminary—intriguing but not yet confirmed by the scientific process that would make them definitive. Still, the work opens a new avenue for understanding why the pandemic has hit men harder than women, and potentially for intervening before severe illness takes hold.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The AR gene aberration could be used as a biomarker to help identify male COVID-19 patients most at risk for ICU admissions.— Dr. Andy Goren, Applied Biology Inc.
It may show at least one answer to why men were more likely to be admitted to ICU and have overall higher mortality with COVID-19 infections.— Dr. Teresa Murray Amato, Long Island Jewish Forest Hills
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte?
Das Original lesen bei UPI News ↗
Health & Medicine