#Androgen hormones free

The Frankel CVCвЂ™s M-BRISC program (Michigan Biological Research Initiative on Sex Differences in Cardiovascular Disease) funded this work. вЂњWe are now working with other groups to facilitate the next steps of clinical trials and mechanistic research funding to follow up on our findings.вЂќ вЂњWe were able to block this effect with the drug spironolactone,вЂќ Kumar said. In the experiments, exposing the human endothelial cells to the androgen hormone DHT, typically found in larger amounts in men than in women, made the inflammation and vascular damage induced by the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein worse.

#Androgen hormones free

Reducing production of androgen in the adrenal glands or the ovaries, to reduce the level of free testosterone in the body. Kumar and colleagues, led by senior author Santhi Ganesh, M.D., an associate professor of internal medicine and human genetics at the U-M Health Frankel Cardiovascular Center, tested human endothelial cells that line arteries, and blood from participants who were hospitalized with COVID-19. High testosterone in women is a concern for a variety of reasons, with irregular periods and infertility being at the top of the list. The new publication, in the journal Viruses, helps researchers better understand why men have worse outcomes than women after contracting COVID-19, said first author Nitin Kumar, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in internal medicine and human genetics at University of Michigan Health. A drug commonly prescribed for high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, called spironolactone, reduced vascular inflammation and hormone-related vascular damage in a pre-clinical study of COVID-19.