Biological sex impacts COVID-19 outcomes
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Updated: Dec 17, 2025

Sex Stratified Neuronal Cultures to Study Ischemic Cell Death Pathways
Published on: December 9, 2013
Sabra L Klein1,2, Santosh Dhakal1, Rebecca L Ursin2
1W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America.
Abstract:
The current novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is revealing profound differences between men and women in disease outcomes worldwide. In the United States, there has been inconsistent reporting and analyses of male-female differences in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. We seek to raise awareness about the male-biased severe outcomes from COVID-19, highlighting the mechanistic differences including in the expression and activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as well as in antiviral immunity. We also highlight how sex differences in comorbidities, which can be associated with both age and race, impact male-biased outcomes from COVID-19.
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