COVID-19, interleukin-6, androgen receptor and the adipose organ: what are the possible targets of this association?

Abstract

On March 11th 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 the first pandemic due to a coronavirus. Clinical severity can vary significantly; some patients are asymptomatic, others develop mild infections of the upper respiratory tract, while others develop severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Risk factors are elderly age, a high sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score and chronic comorbidities. The knowledge of these factors is very important but they do not explain the disparity between the sexes or the deaths of young patients who did not have any health problems before the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among the various factors that could help explain these dynamics, it is of great interest to investigate the potential contribution of the soluble androgen receptor (AR) and of the adipose organ, with particular reference to the actions of leptin. If what was proposed in this analysis were confirmed by surveys, it would be possible to consider acting at the level of these molecular objectives, with different synthesized or extracted molecules including bicalutamide and magnolol for AR, and curcumin, silibinin and other molecules for leptin. Further studies are needed to validate this suggestion. These studies could help to find new treatments and provide useful information for a better assessment of the risk of serious SARS-CoV-2-related disease, taking into account the susceptibility and characteristics of the host.