Department of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Baylor College of Medicinegrid.39382.33, Houston, Texas, USA.
Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicinegrid.39382.33, Houston, Texas, USA.
mBio. 2021 Dec 21;12(6):e0184821. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01848-21. Epub 2021 Nov 23.
There is growing evidence that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects males more severely than females, including compelling evidence indicating that biological sex is an important clinical factor influencing disease pathology and outcomes. In their recent article in , S. Dhakal, C. A. Ruiz-Bedoya, R. Zhou, P. S. Creisher, et al. (mBio 12:e00974-21, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00974-21) find further evidence to support this hypothesis as they interrogate biological sex differences in the pathogenesis and clinical features of COVID-19 in the golden Syrian hamster model. Their study probes SARS-CoV-2 infection in terms of loss of body mass, recovery, lung compromise, viral replication, inflammatory response, immune response, and, most importantly, the role of estrogen. They also demonstrate the value of a novel unbiased, quantitative chest computed tomography (CT) imaging approach. The golden Syrian hamster model holds a promising opportunity to further investigate how biological sex acts as a primary determinant in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis, as also demonstrated in this study.
越来越多的证据表明，2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）对男性的影响比女性更严重，包括有力的证据表明，生物性别是影响疾病病理和结果的一个重要临床因素。在他们最近发表在《mBio》上的文章中，S. Dhakal、C. A. Ruiz-Bedoya、R. Zhou、P. S. Creisher 等人发现了进一步的证据来支持这一假说，因为他们在金黄地鼠模型中研究了 COVID-19 的发病机制和临床特征中的生物学性别差异。他们的研究从体重减轻、恢复、肺部损伤、病毒复制、炎症反应、免疫反应，以及最重要的是雌激素作用等方面探究了 SARS-CoV-2 感染。他们还展示了一种新的、无偏的、定量的胸部计算机断层扫描（CT）成像方法的价值。金黄地鼠模型为进一步研究生物性别如何成为 SARS-CoV-2 发病机制的主要决定因素提供了一个有希望的机会，正如本研究也证明的那样。
