Fetal cell microchimerism and susceptibility to COVID-19 disease in women.

Dataset of  "Cirello V, Lugaresi M, Manzo A, Balla E, Fratianni G, Solari F, Persani L, Fugazzola L, Campi I. Fetal cell microchimerism and susceptibility to COVID-19 disease in women. Infection. 2023;51:1071-1078. doi: 10.1007/s15010-023-02006-x."

AbstractPurpose The clinical outcome of COVID-19 disease is worse in males, and the reasons of this gender disparity are currently unclear, though evidences point to a combination of biological and gender-specifc factors. A phenomenon unique tothe female gender is the fetal cell microchimerism (FCM), defned as the presence of fetal microchimeric cells in maternalorgans and in the circulation for years after delivery and usually evaluated by assessing the presence of male cells or DNAin a woman. In the present case–control study, we aimed to evaluate the possible efect of pregnancy and related FCM onthe susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and on the clinical course and outcome of COVID-19.Methods One hundred twenty-three women with a previous male pregnancy, comprising 63 COVID-19 cases and 60 healthycontrols were enrolled. The presence of blood male DNA was assessed by the amplifcation of the Y-chromosome specifcgene SRY.Results The prevalence of male DNA of presumed fetal origin was signifcantly higher in healthy controls than in COVID-19cases (70 vs 44.4%, P=0.0044; OR 0.3429, 95% CI 0.1631–0.7207, P=0.0047). Among women afected with COVID-19,the presence of male FCM did not signifcantly infuence the severity of the disease, though the 8 deceased women studiedwere all FCM negative.Conclusion This is the frst case–control study reporting the prevalence of FCM in COVID-19 and healthy women. Overall,our data seem to suggest a role for FCM in the protection towards the SARS-CoV-2 infection with a possible positive impacton clinical outcome.