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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1554024
This article is part of the Research TopicSARS-CoV-2: Virology, Epidemiology, Diagnosis, Pathogenesis and Control, Volume IIView all 4 articles
A comparative analysis of estrogen receptors, ACE2 and cytokines in pre-and postmenopausal women and men with COVID-19
Provisionally accepted
Mélida del Rosario Lizarazo-Taborda1
Alejandra Natali Vega-Magaña2Carlos Daniel Díaz-Palomera2
Julio César Villegas-Pineda3Marisol Godínez-Rubí4,5Rubén Alberto Bayardo-González6
Adrián Ramírez-de-Arellano2*
Ana Laura Pereira-Suárez2,3*- 1Maestría en Microbiología Médica, Departamento de Microbiología y Patología, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, México, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
- 2Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Biomédicas, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara., Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
- 3Departamento de Microbiología y Patología, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
- 4Departamento de Morfología, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
- 5Laboratorio de Patología Diagnóstica e Inmunohistoquímica, Centro de Investigación y Diagnóstico en Patología, Departamento de Microbiología y Patología, CUCS, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
- 6Departamento de Clínicas Odontológicas Integrales, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico
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The pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a significant impacton older individuals, those with comorbidities, and a bias towards males. Mortality,associated with an exacerbated immune response by proinflammatory cytokines,suggests potential hormonal influences in this scenario. The objective of thisresearch was to analyze the expression of Estrogen Receptor α (ERα), EstrogenReceptor β (ERβ), G Protein-Coupled Estrogen Receptor (GPER), and theAngiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor, as well as their relationshipwith the viral load of SARS-CoV-2 and serum cytokine levels in three demographicgroups of unvaccinated individuals diagnosed with COVID-19: premenopausalwomen, postmenopausal women, and men. The presence and expression of ERα,ERβ, and GPER, along with the ACE2 receptor, were analyzed byimmunofluorescence assays in cells obtained from nasopharyngeal swabs ofindividuals with confirmed COVID-19 through RT-qPCR testing. Additionally,serum cytokine levels were evaluated using a chemiluminescent microparticleimmunoassay.The results highlighted notable disparities in the expression of ERα and ACE2, aswell as a higher expression of IL-8 and MIP-1β in the premenopausal womengroup compared to postmenopausal women and men. These findings suggest thatin premenopausal women with COVID-19, the elevated expression of ERα andACE2 could play a protective role, strengthening the antiviral immune response.The importance of exploring the complex hormonal and molecular influences inthe pathogenesis of COVID-19 is emphasized, underscoring the need foradditional research to better understand the factors determining severity andimmune response in different demographic groups.
Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, ACE2, estrogen receptors, Estrogens
Received: 31 Dec 2024; Accepted: 25 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lizarazo-Taborda, Vega-Magaña, Díaz-Palomera, Villegas-Pineda, Godínez-Rubí, Bayardo-González, Ramírez-de-Arellano and Pereira-Suárez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Adrián Ramírez-de-Arellano, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Biomédicas, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara., Guadalajara, 44340, Jalisco, Mexico
Ana Laura Pereira-Suárez, Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Biomédicas, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara., Guadalajara, 44340, Jalisco, Mexico
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