The coronavirus disease could linger in the testicles, making men prone to longer, more severe cases of the illness.
According to the New York Post, researchers tracked the recovery of 68 patients in Mumbai, India, to study the gender disparity of the virus, which has taken a worse toll on men, according to a preliminary report posted on MedRxix, which hosts unpublished medical research papers that have not been peer-reviewed.
The virus attaches itself to a protein that occurs in high levels in the testicles, said Dr Aditi Shastri, an oncologist at medical centre in the Bronx and Dr Jayanthi Shastri, a microbiologist at a Mumbai hospital.
This protein, known as ACE2, is present in the lungs, the gastrointestinal tract and the heart in addition to large quantities in the testicles.
However, since the testicles are walled off from the immune system, coronavirus could stay there for longer periods than the rest of the body, according to the researchers.
The researchers said that their findings may explain why women bounce back from coronavirus more quickly than men.
“These observations demonstrate that male subjects have delayed viral clearance,” the authors wrote, adding that the testicles may be serving as “reservoirs” for the virus.
The study may also offer an explanation for reports out of Italy, South Korea and New York City that men are dying at higher rates from coronavirus.
