Sex differences in lung imaging and SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses in a COVID-19 golden Syrian hamster model
Authors: Dhakal Santosh , Ruiz-Bedoya Camilo A. , Zhou Ruifeng , Creisher Patrick S. , Villano Jason S. , Littlefield Kirsten , Castillo Jennie Ruelas , Marinho Paula , Jedlicka Anne , Ordonez Alvaro A. , Majewski Natalia , Betenbaugh Michael J. , Flavahan Kelly , Mueller Alice L. , Looney Monika M. , Quijada Darla , Mota Filipa , Beck Sarah E. , Brockhurst Jacqueline , Braxton Alicia , Castell Natalie , D’Alessio Franco R. , Pate Kelly A. Metcalf , Karakousis Petros C. , Mankowski Joseph L. , Pekosz Andrew , Jain Sanjay K. , Klein Sabra L. ,   for the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Hamster Study Group
Published: April 2021

In the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), more severe outcomes are reported in males compared with females, including hospitalizations and deaths. Animal models can provide an opportunity to mechanistically interrogate causes of sex differences in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2. Adult male and female golden Syrian hamsters (8-10 weeks of age) were inoculated intranasally with 105TCID50of SARS-CoV-2/USA-WA1/2020 and euthanized at several time points during the acute (i.e., virus actively replicating) and recovery (i.e., after the infectious virus has been cleared) phases of infection. There was no mortality, but infected male hamsters experienced greater morbidity, losing a greater percentage of body mass, developing more extensive pneumonia as noted on chest computed tomography, and recovering more slowly than females. Treatment of male hamsters with estradiol did not alter pulmonary damage. Virus titers in respiratory tissues, including nasal turbinates, trachea, and lungs, and pulmonary cytokine concentrations, including IFNβ and TNFα, were comparable between the sexes. However, during the recovery phase of infection, females mounted two-fold greater IgM, IgG, and IgA responses against the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein (S-RBD) in both plasma and respiratory tissues. Female hamsters also had significantly greater IgG antibodies against whole inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and mutant S-RBDs, as well as virus neutralizing antibodies in plasma. The development of an animal model to study COVID-19 sex differences will allow for a greater mechanistic understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 associated sex differences seen in the human population.

Importance

Men experience more severe outcomes from COVID-19 than women. Golden Syrian hamsters were used to explore sex differences in the pathogenesis of a human clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2. After inoculation, male hamsters experienced greater sickness, developed more severe lung pathology, and recovered more slowly than females. Sex differences in disease could not be reversed by estradiol treatment in males and were not explained by either virus replication kinetics or the concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in the lungs. During the recovery period, antiviral antibody responses in the respiratory tract and plasma, including to newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants, were greater in females than male hamsters. Greater lung pathology during the acute phase combined with reduced antiviral antibody responses during the recovery phase of infection in males than females illustrate the utility of golden Syrian hamsters as a model to explore sex differences in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and vaccine-induced immunity and protection.

One Sentence Summary

Following SARS-CoV-2 infection, male hamsters experience worse clinical disease and have lower antiviral antibody responses than females.