Covid and thrombosis, men over 50 at risk: the study

Higher thrombosis risk for Covid-19 positive men over the age of 50 or a reduction in testosterone due to a genetic abnormality. This is confirmed by a study coordinated by Medical Genetics of the Sienese University Hospital, directed by Alessandra Renieri, and published in the ‘Journal of Hematology and Oncology’. The article explains why some patients who have contracted the Sars-CoV-2 virus face greater thrombotic risks, especially if they are elderly or subjects with a lower testosterone effect (androgen receptor deficiency) and who have a defect in a protein, the Selectina P gene, which triggers the thrombus more vividly. “Thromboembolism is a frequent cause of severity and mortality in Covid-19 – explains Renieri -. However, the etiology of this phenomenon is not yet well understood. Together with the other research centers we have selected a sample of about 1200 positive patients to coronavirus but with different severities, and classified according to sex and age. 100 of these patients were recruited at the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital, the others come from 40 other Italian centers. Thanks to the sequencing of the exomes – continues Professor Renieri -, A group of about 500 male patients, over the age of 50, was identified, for whom the thrombotic risk was increased, due to the regulation of the Selp gene by testosterone. An indication, this – concludes Renieri -, also very important for indicate the most suitable therapeutic path for each subject “. The research was carried out thanks to the Gen-Covid Consortium, thanks to funding from the Tuscany Region, and h a with the participation of companies from the regional health system and 40 other hospitals in Italy. Also fundamental is the collaboration of Andrea Isidori, of the La Sapienza University of Rome, Giuseppe Marotta, director of the Innovation, Experimentation and Clinical and Translational Research Department of the Aou Senese, and Simone Furini of the Medical Biotechnology Department of the University of Siena. “The tests of the 1200 patients analyzed – adds Renieri – were carried out with exome analysis using the genomic sequencer available to the Aou Senese and acquired, in December 2019, thanks to the support of the Tuscany Region, Miur, University of Siena, Aou Senese, Foundation Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Toscana Life Sciences, Southeast Tuscany Local Health Authority. The device, unique in Tuscany in the healthcare sector and one of the few in Italy of its kind – concludes Renieri -, is able to process 200 patients per night and identify all useful markers for Covid severity “.