Hormones make women more susceptible to asthma

women are twice as likely as men to develop asthma, and this difference may be due to the effects of sex hormones on lung cells. Researchers at Vanderburg University and Johns Hopkins University in the United States have found that testosterone can block an immune cell linked to asthma symptoms, such as inflammation of the lungs and mucus secretion. The research paper was published on November 28 in
Journal.
when we started this study, we thought ovarian hormones increased inflammation, " he said. "But I was surprised to find that testosterone is more important in reducing inflammation, " says Dawn Newcomb of Vanderburg University Medical Center. Previous
found that boys were 1.5 times more likely to develop asthma than girls before puberty. But this trend reverses after puberty, when women are twice as likely as men to develop asthma. Moreover, this pattern continues until women enter menopause, and then the incidence of asthma begins to decline. Researchers suspect sex hormones may be involved.
Newcomb and colleagues analyzed cells in humans and mice to further study the trend of gender differences. They focused on inherent lymphatic type 2 cells (ILC2 cells). These cells produce cytokines that cause inflammation in the lungs and mucus, making breathing more difficult. The researchers collected blood from people with and without asthma and found that people with asthma had more ILC2 cells than people without asthma. Women with asthma had more ILC2 cells than men with asthma.
also found ILC2 cells in mice's lungs, but in small numbers. Similar to what they found in humans, the Newcomb team found that they had fewer ILC2 cells from male mice than females.
when researchers added ovarian hormones such as estrogen and progesterone to ILC2 cells, they did not see a change or improvement in the cell's ability to produce cytokines. However, when they added testosterone, they found that the hormone stopped the cells from expanding and reduced the production of cytokines. In the future, researchers hope to further study the effects of sex hormones on asthma. (Source: Science Network Tang One Dust)