Coronavirus may
damage testicles without entering cells, study finds (Källa: Scmp.com)
In the latest study, samples from 11 patients who died from Covid-19 in Wuhan were analysed by a team led by Ming Zhou, a professor with the Tufts Medical Centre in Boston, and Dr Nie Xiu, from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan.
They tested for viral genes in tissues involved in sperm and testosterone production, and some samples were also assessed for damage caused by the virus. But only one sample showed a trace of the virus, from a patient with a high viral load. That result could have been because the virus was “present in blood rather than in testicular tissue”, the paper said.
However, more than 80 per cent of the samples showed significant damage to the seminiferous tubules – the part of the testicles where sperm is made.
The cells making up these tiny tubes underwent “ballooning changes”, becoming much bigger than healthy cells. Some were also damaged to an extent that sperm production could have been affected, the researchers said.
They said it was unclear how the virus did this without entering the testicular cells but noted that the testicles contain an enzyme known as ACE2, which the coronavirus can bind to using a spike protein.
Zhang Shuye, a principal investigator with the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre at Fudan University, who was not involved in the study, said there was growing support but “no direct scientific proof” for the theory that the virus could cause damage without actually entering a cell.
Based on their findings, Zhou’s team concluded that “studies should be undertaken to find ways to mitigate the risk of testicular injury during the Covid-19 disease course”.
Källa:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3087427/coronavirus-may-damage-testicles-without-entering-cells-study
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