Therefore, the role of androgens in modulating the immune response to infections is known and has become relevant again in the context of the covid-19 pandemic: Takahashi T. et al. in a series of 98 patients with Covid-19 infection note that male patients have higher plasma levels of innate immune cytokines such as IL-8 and IL-18 along with more robust induction of non-classical monocytes and a poor T cell response negatively correlate with patients' age49. This evidence concerns the gene IL18 and infection.