Assessment of Female Hormonal Influence on COVID-19 Vaccine Response: A Prospective Cohort Study

Overview

Journal Cureus

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2024 Mar 21

PMID 38510901

Authors

Suganya Panneer Selvam

Ramya Ramadoss

Rajeshkumar Shanmugam

Sandhya Sundar

Lakshmi Ta

Pratibha Ramani

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: The diversity of oral epithelial cells offers potential viral infection sites. The lower level of ACE2 inhibitors in women's blood renders them more resistant to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In order to determine the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on female hormones, salivary levels of total antibody, immunoglobulin G (IgG), and cortisol were measured in young and elderly women.

Methods: Saliva samples from 88 participants were collected and subjected to ELISA for detecting total antibody, IgG, and cortisol.

Results: Women who were infected with COVID-19 and who completed two doses of vaccination had more IgG antibodies when compared to the uninfected individuals/single-dose/non-vaccinated individuals. The cortisol levels in post-menopausal women were higher than those in women with normal menstrual cycles, and the difference was statistically significant (P-value 0.00). The increased cortisol levels were well correlated with increased levels of IgG antibodies which was statistically significant (Spearman rho P value 0.00) Conclusions: COVID variants will continue to mutate and evolve as long as the epidemic persists. The higher cortisol and IgG antibodies produced by female hormones protect them from COVID-19 infection.

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