<p>Women with Covid-19 mount a more robust and sustained immune response via the body's T cells than men, according to a study that may help guide a sex-based approach to the treatment and care for those infected with the novel coronavirus.</p>.<p>The research, published in the journal <em>Nature</em>, assessed 98 patients -- aged 18 years or over -- admitted to the Yale New Haven Hospital in the US with mild to moderate disease, who had confirmed positive tests for novel coronavirus infection.</p>.<p>While previous research had shown that the severity of Covid-19 tends to be higher for men than for women, the underlying reasons for this discrepancy has remained unclear, according to the scientists, including those from Yale University in the US.</p>.<p>In the current study, they found that female patients mounted a more robust and sustained immune response via the body's T cells than men.</p>.<p>The researchers noted that T cells played an essential part in the immune system with their roles including the killing of infected cells.</p>.<p>According to the scientists, including Akiko Iwasaki from the Yale University School of Medicine, poor T cell responses correlated with a worse disease outcome in male patients.</p>.<p>"We found that a poor T cell response negatively correlated with patients' age, and was associated with worse disease outcome in male patients, but not in female patients," the researchers wrote in the study.</p>.<p>Compared with healthy control individuals, they said patients with Covid-19 were found to have elevated levels of innate immune cytokines and chemokines, which are signalling molecules involved in the recruitment of immune cells to sites of inflammation.</p>.<p>However, the study noted that the levels of some of these molecules were higher in male patients than in female patients.</p>.<p>In female patients, the scientists said, higher levels of the cytokine molecules were associated with a worse disease response.</p>.<p>Based on the results, they said male patients may benefit from therapies that elevate T cell responses whereas female patients may benefit from therapies that dampen early innate immune responses.</p>.<p>However, the scientists caution that they were unable to rule out other underlying factors that may modify the risk of poor outcome in male and female patients with Covid-19.</p>
<p>Women with Covid-19 mount a more robust and sustained immune response via the body's T cells than men, according to a study that may help guide a sex-based approach to the treatment and care for those infected with the novel coronavirus.</p>.<p>The research, published in the journal <em>Nature</em>, assessed 98 patients -- aged 18 years or over -- admitted to the Yale New Haven Hospital in the US with mild to moderate disease, who had confirmed positive tests for novel coronavirus infection.</p>.<p>While previous research had shown that the severity of Covid-19 tends to be higher for men than for women, the underlying reasons for this discrepancy has remained unclear, according to the scientists, including those from Yale University in the US.</p>.<p>In the current study, they found that female patients mounted a more robust and sustained immune response via the body's T cells than men.</p>.<p>The researchers noted that T cells played an essential part in the immune system with their roles including the killing of infected cells.</p>.<p>According to the scientists, including Akiko Iwasaki from the Yale University School of Medicine, poor T cell responses correlated with a worse disease outcome in male patients.</p>.<p>"We found that a poor T cell response negatively correlated with patients' age, and was associated with worse disease outcome in male patients, but not in female patients," the researchers wrote in the study.</p>.<p>Compared with healthy control individuals, they said patients with Covid-19 were found to have elevated levels of innate immune cytokines and chemokines, which are signalling molecules involved in the recruitment of immune cells to sites of inflammation.</p>.<p>However, the study noted that the levels of some of these molecules were higher in male patients than in female patients.</p>.<p>In female patients, the scientists said, higher levels of the cytokine molecules were associated with a worse disease response.</p>.<p>Based on the results, they said male patients may benefit from therapies that elevate T cell responses whereas female patients may benefit from therapies that dampen early innate immune responses.</p>.<p>However, the scientists caution that they were unable to rule out other underlying factors that may modify the risk of poor outcome in male and female patients with Covid-19.</p>