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Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology
2021;11 666987.

Testosterone in COVID-19: An Adversary Bane or Comrade Boon.

Hayder M Al-Kuraishy, Ali I Al-Gareeb, Hani Faidah, Athanasios Alexiou, Gaber El-Saber Batiha
Author Information
  1. Hayder M Al-Kuraishy: Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Medicine, College of Medicine, ALmustansiriyia University, Baghdad, Iraq.
  2. Ali I Al-Gareeb: Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Medicine, College of Medicine, ALmustansiriyia University, Baghdad, Iraq.
  3. Hani Faidah: Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al Qura University, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
  4. Athanasios Alexiou: Department of Science and Engineering, Novel Global Community Educational Foundation, Hebersham, NSW, Australia.
  5. Gaber El-Saber Batiha: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, Damanhour, Egypt.
PMID: 34568081 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.666987

Abstract

COVID-19 is a pandemic disease caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which leads to pulmonary manifestations like acute lung injury (ALI) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In addition, COVID-19 may cause extra-pulmonary manifestation such as testicular injury. Both high and low levels of testosterone could affect the severity of COVID-19. Herein, there is substantial controversy regarding the potential role of testosterone in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity. Therefore, the present study aimed to review and elucidate the assorted view of preponderance regarding the beneficial and harmful effects of testosterone in COVID-19. A related literature search in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Science Direct was done. All published articles related to the role of testosterone and COVID-19 were included in this mini-review. The beneficial effects of testosterone in COVID-19 are through inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines, augmentation of anti-inflammatory cytokines, modulation of the immune response, attenuation of oxidative stress, and endothelial dysfunction. However, its harmful effects in COVID-19 are due to augmentation of transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2), which is essential for cleaving and activating SARS-CoV-2 spike protein during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Most published studies illustrated that low testosterone levels are linked to COVID-19 severity. A low testosterone level in COVID-19 is mainly due to testicular injury, the primary source of testosterone.

Keywords

COVID-19 TMPRSS2 anti-inflammatory cytokines pro-inflammatory cytokines testosterone

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MeSH Term

COVID-19
Humans
SARS-CoV-2
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
Testosterone

Chemicals

Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
spike protein, SARS-CoV-2
Testosterone
Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review
Article has an altmetric score of 3

Word Cloud

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