Immune Cells Have Sex and So Should Journal Articles

Abstract

Males and females have the same immunological cells, proteins, and pathways in place to protect against the development of disease. The kinetics, magnitude, and skewing of the responses mounted against pathogens, allergens, toxins, or self-antigens, however, can differ dramatically between the sexes. Generally, females mount higher innate and adaptive immune responses than males, which can result in faster clearance of pathogens but also contributes to increased susceptibility to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases in females compared with males. Hormonal and genetic factors contribute significantly to sex differences in immune function and disease pathogenesis. In particular, the expression of X-linked genes and microRNA as well as sex steroid hormones signaling through hormone receptors in immune cells can affect responses to immunological stimuli differently in males and females. Despite data illustrating profound differences between the sexes in immune function, sex differences in the pathogenesis of disease are often overlooked in biomedical research. Establishing journal policies that require authors to report the sex of their cells, animals, and subjects will improve our understanding of the pathogenesis of diseases, with the long-term goal of personalizing treatments for immune-mediated diseases differently for males and females in an effort to protect us equally.

Effects of Calcium Supplementation on Biomarkers of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Colorectal Adenoma Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Most importantly, associations of these biomarkers at baseline with sex, body measurements, and an oxidative balance score were consistent with previous findings from our group (42,45,46) and other groups (e.g., refs. [47][48][49], supporting the validity of our biomarker measurements. The baseline association of regular aspirin use with the cytokine z-score was opposite to what one might expect; however, this may have been the result of confounding by indication (i.e., subjects who took aspirin regularly likely were doing so for medical conditions associated with higher systemic inflammation), and thus should be interpreted with caution.…”

Host Responses to the Pathogen Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and Beneficial Microbes Exhibit Host Sex Specificity

“…How microbes perceive these sex-specific regulatory mediators may prove to be relative. Women are 30% more likely to develop irritable bowel disease than men (57,58). Studies have demonstrated estrogen to be contributive to GIT diseases, but the specific mechanisms associated with its action are largely understudied (57)(58)(59)(60)(61).…”

“…Women are 30% more likely to develop irritable bowel disease than men (57,58). Studies have demonstrated estrogen to be contributive to GIT diseases, but the specific mechanisms associated with its action are largely understudied (57)(58)(59)(60)(61). Both females and males produce estrogen and estrogen receptors in GIT tissues, and learning more about these biological relationships could elucidate unexplored niches in disease (61)(62)(63)(64).…”

Embedding Concepts of Sex and Gender Health Differences into Medical Curricula

“…Therefore, attendees also endorsed the editorial policies of several major scientific journals requiring the reporting of sex of the experimental material. [12][13][14][15] Dr. Londa Schiebinger emphasized how constructs of sex and gender influence all aspects of innovation in science, mathematics, and engineering as well as medicine. Through her efforts as Director of a joint program of Stanford University Center for Gendered Innovation, the European Union Research and Innovation, and the National Science Foundation, a website (www.genderedinnovations.eu) was developed to provide scientists and health care professionals easy access to definitions, methodologies, and examples of how viewing their work through a ''gender lens'' facilitates innovations.…”