Gender-associated difference following COVID-19 virus infection: Implications for thymosin alpha-1 therapy.
Li. Xin X; Liu. Lancong L; Yang. Yi Y; Yang. Xuefeng X; Wang. Cencen C; Li. Yan Y; Ge. Yanyan Y; Shi. Yuxin Y; Lv. Ping P; Zhou. Hua H; Luo. Pei P; Huang. Shilong S
Key Findings
- Men with COVID‑19 reported more symptoms than women.
- After thymosin‑alpha‑1 treatment, men had higher CRP and IL‑6 but lower PCT compared to women.
- The peptide was well tolerated with no major safety concerns in the short 15‑day course.
Practical Outcomes
- For self‑experimenters, thymosin‑alpha‑1 may be safe for short‑term immune support, but expect possible gender‑related differences in inflammatory responses. If you choose to use it, monitor CRP/IL‑6 levels especially if you are male, and consider that the benefit for COVID‑19‑related outcomes remains modest and not clearly superior to standard care.
Summary
A small study in Wuhan gave the immune‑boosting peptide thymosin‑alpha‑1 to COVID‑19 patients and found that men and women responded differently: men showed higher inflammation markers (CRP, IL‑6) but lower pro‑calcitonin after treatment, and they reported more symptoms than women. The peptide appeared safe, but the gender‑specific effects suggest it may not work the same for everyone.
Abstract
Gender influences clinical presentations, duration and severity of symptoms, and therapy outcome in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Whether the immune response to Tα1 treatment for SARS-CoV-2 differs between the sexes, and whether this difference explains the male susceptibility to COVID-19, is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency and safety of Tα1 treatment and provide a basis for practically identifying gender differences characteristics and features of COVID-19. One hundred twenty-seven patients had COVID-19 symptoms and tested COVID19-positive (female 42.52%) in Wuhan union hospital were enrolled for medication. They were randomly divided into groups Control and Tα1 intervention. Seventy-eight patients received a subcutaneous injection of 1.6 mg Tα1, based on supportive treatment for 15 days. The control group included untreated 49 COVID19 patients closely matched for gender and age and received regular supportive treatment. In this retrospective analysis, we found that COVID-19-infected males reported more symptoms than COVID-19-infected females. A high degree of gender differences-related variability was observed in CRP and PCT levels and the cell counts of many lymphocyte subpopulations in the COVID-19 patients after Tα1 intervention. Levels of CRP and IL-6 were higher in Tα1-treated male group than Tα1-treated female group, while the level of PCT was significantly lower in Tα1-treated male group. Gender differences may be a factor in sustaining COVID-19 immunity responded to Tα1, male and female show statistically significant differences in relevance to cytokine production associated with the development of a more significant number of symptoms. This leaves the question of identifying gender-specific risk factors to explain these differences.
Study Information
pubmed
2020
2020-09-18T00:00:00.000Z
10.1016/j.intimp.2020.107022
13
53