Immune response to infections and diseases, gender is important

The research was led by Shokrollah Elahi, an American university immunologist, and was published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology

Irahi said that understanding that women are usually more likely than men to have anemia due to monthly blood loss or pregnancy and childbirth.

"We showed in this study that women generally have more immature red blood cells

Irahi's research team further discovered that women have more immature red blood cells in the blood circulation after the menstrual cycle ends

Irahi said that women are more prone to anemia than men during childbirth and menstrual cycles, but proof-of-concept studies have shown that anemia can suppress women’s immune systems and make women more susceptible to infection

One size fits all not for everyone

Irahi pointed out that the researchers further discovered the need to stop using the same strategy to treat men and women

He said that with the emergence of precision medicine in recent years and the rejection of one-size-fits-all diagnosis and treatment methods, the importance of gender as a variable—and its impact on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment strategies—has become more apparent

"The basis of personalized medicine is that men and women have different biological and immune responses

"In the past, we treated men and women equally, but in recent years, we have paid a lot of attention to the role of gender in the immune response because the two respond differently to the same disease or treatment

Irahi hopes that future research will be able to determine the precise factors associated with gender differences in immune responses

"Understanding these mechanisms will define important new strategies for effective prevention and treatment of immune-related diseases," he said

"Men and women have different physiology and immune systems

This research was supported by funding from WCHRI by supporters of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Lois Hall and Women's Hospital

Journal Reference :

1. Siavash Mashhouri, Petya Koleva, Mai Huynh, Isobel Okoye, Shima Shahbaz, Shokrollah Elahi.