新研究：男人的肺似乎更易感染新冠病毒

Men’s blood has higher levels than women’s of a key enzyme used by the new coronavirus to infect cells, the results of a big European study showed on Monday — a finding which may help explain why men are more vulnerable to infection with COVID-19.
週一，一項歐洲的大型研究發現，一種新冠病毒用來感染細胞的關鍵的酶在男性血液中的含量高於女性。這一結果可能有助於解釋爲什麼男人更容易感染新冠病毒。
Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is found in the heart, kidneys and other organs. In COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, it is thought to play a role in how the infection progresses into the lungs.
ACE2（血管緊張素轉換酶2）可以在心臟、腎臟和其他器官中發現。在由新型冠狀病毒引起的呼吸系統疾病新冠肺炎中，這種酶被認爲在肺部感染過程中起到一定作用。
The study, published in the European Heart Journal, also found that widely-prescribed drugs called ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) did not lead to higher ACE2 concentrations and should therefore not increase the COVID-19 risk for people taking them.
這項研究發表在《歐洲心臟雜誌》上，研究也發現最常開的藥物ARB（血管緊張素Ⅱ受體阻滯劑）並不會導致ACE2濃度升高，因此不會提高用這種藥的人感染新冠病毒的風險。
ACE inhibitors and ARBs are widely prescribed to patients with congestive heart failure, diabetes or kidney disease. The drugs account for billions of dollars in prescription sales worldwide.
ACE抑制劑和ARB是心衰、糖尿病或腎病病人常開的藥。這些藥在全球處方藥銷售額中佔到數十億美元。
“Our findings do not support the discontinuation of these drugs in COVID-19 patients,” said Adriaan Voors, a professor of cardiology at the University Medical Center (UMC) Groningen in The Netherlands, who co-led the study.
荷蘭格羅寧根大學醫學中心的心臟病學教授Adriaan Voors是此項研究的共同作者，他說：“我們的發現不贊成停止給新冠病人使用這些藥物。”
The COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 4 million people worldwide and killed almost 277,000, according to a tally. Death and infection tolls point to men being more likely than women to contract the disease and to suffer severe or critical complications if they do.
據統計，全球新冠病毒感染人數超過400萬，死亡人數達277,000。從死亡人數和感染人數來看，男人比女人更容易感染，感染以後也會有嚴重或致命的併發症。