Male androgenetic alopecia (AGA) has been implicated as a putative risk factor in severe Covid-19 based on high incidences of advanced AGA in male hospitalized Covid-19 patients. Research further suggests that androgen signaling, which plays a central role in AGA etiology, promotes SARS-CoV-2 infection and is associated with severe Covid-19 symptoms in men. We aimed to systematically investigate a potential association between AGA and Covid-19 both on an epidemiological and a genetic level in a large single-population cohort. To this end, we performed regression, genetic correlation and polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses using data from the UK Biobank and published GWAS data on AGA and Covid-19. Our analyses did not reveal any significant epidemiological association between AGA and severe Covid-19. Detailed examination of the data that led to the previous reports of an epidemiological association between both traits suggests that this is a spurious finding and the result of ascertainment biases. Similarly, genome-wide correlation analyses and association testing for severe Covid-19 and AGA PRS yielded no evidence for a general shared genetic component between both traits. Subsequent association testing for pathway-based AGA PRS and Covid-19 severity however revealed a significant association in specific pathways, namely vitamin metabolism (pFDR=0.02), natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity (pFDR=0.02) and WNT signaling (pFDR=0.02) in men as well as aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling (pFDR=0.02) in women. Together, our data yield no evidence for an epidemiological association between AGA and Covid-19 but suggest that a shared biological basis for both traits exists in specific pathways.

ESDR072 - Covid-19 and male androgenetic alopecia: Systematic investigation of a potential epidemiological and genetic association

50th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research. VIRTUAL MEETING