April 27, 2024

Medical Trend

Medical News and Medical Resources

New coronavirus can cause testicular damage and atrophy

New coronavirus can cause testicular damage and atrophy



 

New coronavirus can cause testicular damage and atrophy, and recovered patients should pay attention to the problems of hypogonadism and reduced fertility.

 

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, human beings’ cognition of the virus has been constantly refreshed. As a “flying disaster” for the entire human race, the field and scope of its impact are also increasing.

It is obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused incalculable losses to the world economy and has profoundly affected the social order of mankind.

 

The receptor ACE2 of the new coronavirus is a receptor protein widely distributed in the human body, mainly in organs and tissues such as the respiratory tract , intestine , kidney , heart and testis .

 

Many studies have pointed out that the new coronavirus infection will not only bring disease and death, but also cause other complications, and cause sequelae of varying degrees and symptoms after the patient recovers. Common sequelae include loss of smell , fatigue, dyspnea, arthralgia, chest pain and even depression .

 

As early as February 12, 2020, Fan Caibin and others of Suzhou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University published a research paper entitled: ACE2 Expression in Kidney and Testis May Cause Kidney and Testis Damage After 2019-nCoV Infection on the preprint platform medRxiv (the The paper was published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine in January 2021 ) , which pointed out that ACE2 expression in the kidneys and testes may lead to kidney and testicular infections in patients with COVID-19s.

 

Recently, the team of Yuan Guoyong of the University of Hong Kong published a research paper entitled: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections by intranasal or testicular inoculation induces testicular damage preventable by vaccination in golden Syrian hamsters in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases .

 

The study confirmed that the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV) can cause acute testicular damage, chronic asymmetric testicular atrophy, and hormonal changes in hamsters, even though the new coronavirus only causes them mild pneumonia.

 

Professor Yuan Guoyong said that for those who have recovered from the COVID-19 infection, it is necessary to pay attention to the possible hypogonadism (low libido) and reduced fertility , and the COVID-19 vaccination can prevent the emergence of such complications.

 

New coronavirus can cause testicular damage and atrophy

 

 

 

Previous studies have reported symptoms of testicular pain in patients with Covid-19, and autopsy studies of deceased male patients with Covid-19 have shown testicular cell damage, but SARS-CoV-2 has not been found in semen.

 

Yuan Guoyong’s team conducted experiments in hamsters, using influenza virus H1N1 infection as a control. Both the new coronavirus and influenza virus can cause self-limiting pneumonia in hamsters through intranasal infection and direct testicular infection.

But even with just an intranasal infection with the new coronavirus, the hamsters experienced a dramatic drop in sperm count and testosterone from days 4 to 7, along with testicular shrinkage, volume and weight loss.

Serum sex hormone levels were significantly reduced 42 to 120 days after infection.

Acute inflammation, hemorrhage, necrosis of seminiferous tubules, and disruption of spermatogenesis occur in the testis.

 

Inflammation, degeneration, and necrosis of testicular tissue persisted from 7 to 120 days, and intranasal infection of Omicron and Delta mutants caused similar testicular changes.

However , hamsters infected with influenza virus H1N1 administered intranasally or intratestally showed no testicular infection or damage.

 

New coronavirus can cause testicular damage and atrophy

 

Yuan Guoyong’s team further inoculated the hamsters with inactivated virus vaccine, and then infected with the new coronavirus.

The results showed that there was no testicular histopathological damage, which showed that the COVID-19 vaccine effectively protected the testis from the infection of the new coronavirus and the possible damage caused by the COVID-19 virus. Complications of testicular injury.

 

New coronavirus can cause testicular damage and atrophy

 

 

In general, this study by Yuan Guoyong ‘s team found in hamster studies that new coronavirus infection can cause acute testicular damage, followed by chronic asymmetric testicular atrophy and related hormonal changes, and vaccination can effectively avoid this kind of Testicular damage.

This study also suggests that male patients who have recovered from the COVID-19 should pay attention to the possible problems of hypogonadism and reduced fertility, and also emphasizes the importance of vaccination against the COVID-19.

 

 

 

 

Reference :
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2020.563893/full
https: //doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciac142

New coronavirus can cause testicular damage and atrophy

(source:internet, reference only)


Disclaimer of medicaltrend.org


Important Note: The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice.