New Research Suggests That Female Fat Tissue Acts As A “Reservoir” During COVID-19 Infection, Which May Explain Why Males Have Suffered Higher Mortality Rates

WavebreakmediaMicro - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
WavebreakmediaMicro - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of infection throughout the United States impacted both men and women at comparable rates. However, there was a notable gender gap in terms of mortality.

According to a Gender COVID-19 Data Tracker developed in 2020 by GenderSci Lab, which looked at 30 million cases between April 2020 and May 2021, males in the U.S. had a 10 to 20 percent higher mortality rate than females– a finding that prompted many scientists to begin researching the cause of the mortality disparity. 

But, as of last month, a researcher from the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) in New Jersey may have found some answers.

Jyothi Nagajyothi is a scientist who investigates infectious diseases in relation to body fat, which includes COVID-19.

And in a recent study published in MDPI, Nagajyothi’s research team suggested the reason why males suffer worse COVID-19 outcomes is that the virus more readily targets fat tissue in females as opposed to lung tissue.

“Our data suggested that in female mice, adipose tissue may act as a sink/reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 and thus spares the lungs from a greater viral load, preventing pulmonary damage due to infiltrated immune cells and activated pro-inflammatory cytokines,” the study states.

In other words, the study used a mouse model to mimic the human immune system and found that COVID-19-infected females actually lost more fat than males. Additionally, males were found to have more virus in their lung tissue; meanwhile, females had more virus in fat tissue.

So, the researchers believe that adipose tissue– otherwise known as fat– may act as a reservoir for the virus and prevent it from severely damaging lung tissue.

This research expands on a prior study from last year, in which Nagajyothi found that COVID-19 much more rapidly infiltrates the lungs of males as opposed to females.

WavebreakmediaMicro – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

Nagajyothi’s latest study, though, points to the “why,” indicating that there is an inverse relationship between adipose tissue and viral loads in the lungs that differs between genders.

“These data may help explain the higher COVID-19 susceptibility in males compared to females,” the researchers concluded.

To read the study’s complete findings, visit the link here.

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Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing ... More about Katharina Buczek
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