Testosterone reduces risk of inflammation

Men are less likely to suffer from inflammation due to testosterone

27.07.2011

The male sex hormone testosterone causes body hair and muscle to grow, but at the same time reduces the risk of inflammatory and allergic diseases. Researchers from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena come to this conclusion in a recent study, the results of which are published in the current issue of Fachzeitschrift „FASEB Journal“ published.

Not only does testosterone cause men to be more muscular than women, they have a deeper voice and more body hair, but it also contributes to a much lower risk of inflammation and allergic reactions. Scientists at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena have taken a closer look at the lower risk of inflammatory diseases in men already known from previous studies and found that testosterone reduces the activity of the enzyme phospholipase D. Phospholipase D is considered an essential factor in the production of inflammatory substances in the immune cells.

Women are at increased risk of inflammatory diseases
It has been known for some time that „in women such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis or asthma“ However, the causes were unknown until now, explained Prof. Dr. med. Oliver Werz, Professor of Pharmaceutical and Medical Chemistry at the University of Jena. The research team led by Oliver Werz has now succeeded in determining testosterone as a decisive influencing factor for the demonstrably different gender-specific disease risk. „In a series of studies we were able to show that the cells responsible for the development of inflammation react very differently in men and women“, reported Carlo Pergola, who also participated in the study. According to the expert, certain immune cells of women produced almost twice as many pro-inflammatory substances as men. In collaboration with researchers from Tübingen, Stockholm and Naples, the scientists at the University of Jena have therefore analyzed in more detail the molecular causes of these differences in the production of pro-inflammatory substances.

Testosterone reduces the enzyme activity of phospholipase D
To explain the different susceptibility to inflammation, the researchers isolated immune cells from male and female subjects and tested in the test tube, among other things, the activity of the various enzymes. They were able to prove that the enzyme activity of phospholipase D, which is responsible for the production of pro-inflammatory substances, was significantly lower in male cells than in the female ones. In the subsequent investigations, the researchers found that this apparently the sex hormone testosterone is the cause. „Interestingly, the enzyme activity decreases under the influence of testosterone - even in the female immune cells“, explained Dr. Pergola. According to the researchers, this could also be an explanation for the generally lower risk of inflammatory diseases in men.

Gender specific therapies required
In addition, according to the researchers, the current results should also be taken into account when testing new therapies and drugs for inflammatory diseases. The scientists around Prof. Dr. Oliver Werz advocated gender-specific tailor-made therapies. The previous practice in which „new therapies will be tested exclusively on male volunteers“, be outdated, because as the current study confirm, the findings can not be readily transferred to women, said Werz and colleagues. (Fp)

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