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Some patients report testicular pain and some report a decrease in testosterone, a key hormone produced in the testes. The autopsy also showed significant disruption of the testes at the cellular level, including the presence of immune cells.
“Given the size pandemic Covid-19 , it is very important to investigate how this disease may impact the testes, and the potential consequences for disease severity, reproductive health, and sexual transmission,” said Dr. Rafael Kroon Campos, study leader, author and postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Shannan Rossi at UTMB.
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Rossi’s lab has been studying Zika virus infection in the testicles for years and wondered if the new coronavirus could cause a similar illness. Hamsters are commonly used to model Covid-19 in humans because the viral disease takes a similar path in rodents.
Virus was detected in the testes of all infected hamsters during the first week but was reduced. The authors think this same development of symptoms could occur in men with mild to moderate COVID-19 disease.
“These findings are the first step in understanding how Covid-19 impacts the male genital tract and male reproductive health,” said Rossi, a professor in the Department of Pathology and Microbiology & Immunology.
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