Men's blood contains greater concentrations of enzyme that helps COVID-19 infect cells

(European Society of Cardiology) Evidence from a large study of several thousand patients in 11 European countries shows that men have higher concentrations of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in their blood than women. Since ACE2 enables the coronavirus to infect healthy cells, this may help to explain why men are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than women. The research and accompanying editorial are published in a European Heart Journal Focus issue on COVID-19.