Sex Differences in Inflammation and Muscle Wasting in Aging and Disease

Abstract

Only in recent years, thanks to a precision medicine-based approach, have treatments tailored to the sex of each patient emerged in clinical trials. In this regard, both striated muscle tissues present significant differences between the two sexes, which may have important consequences for diagnosis and therapy in aging and chronic illness. In fact, preservation of muscle mass in disease conditions correlates with survival; however, sex should be considered when protocols for the maintenance of muscle mass are designed. One obvious difference is that men have more muscle than women. Moreover, the two sexes differ in inflammation parameters, particularly in response to infection and disease. Therefore, unsurprisingly, men and women respond differently to therapies. In this review, we present an up-to-date overview on what is known about sex differences in skeletal muscle physiology and disfunction, such as disuse atrophy, age-related sarcopenia, and cachexia. In addition, we summarize sex differences in inflammation which may underly the aforementioned conditions because pro-inflammatory cytokines deeply affect muscle homeostasis. The comparison of these three conditions and their sex-related bases is interesting because different forms of muscle atrophy share common mechanisms; for instance, those responsible for protein dismantling are similar although differing in terms of kinetics, severity, and regulatory mechanisms. In pre-clinical research, exploring sexual dimorphism in disease conditions could highlight new efficacious treatments or recommend implementation of an existing one. Any protective factors discovered in one sex could be exploited to achieve lower morbidity, reduce the severity of the disease, or avoid mortality in the opposite sex. Thus, the understanding of sex-dependent responses to different forms of muscle atrophy and inflammation is of pivotal importance to design innovative, tailored, and efficient interventions.

Association between muscle-fat ratio and sarcopenia in older adults with hypothyroidism

“…It may also be related to the bioresistive resistance method we used to detect muscle mass [16] . Moreover, the prevalence was higher in females than in males, which is consistent with the gender differences in the prevalence of sarcopenia under the international diagnostic criteria [14] , and is mainly related to gender differences in hormone levels [17], body composition [18] , muscle ber phenotypes, and neurological differences [19] . In addition, our study found that female patients had a higher BF% and lower muscle lipids than males.Lee and his team has found that skeletal muscle and adipose tissue secrete myokines and adipokines, respectively [20] .…”

Cognitive function is associated with performance in time up and go test and with leptin blood levels in community-dwelling older women

“…The exclusion criteria were strict, and individuals with confirmed cognitive impairment were not participated in the evaluations. Additionally, considering that inflammation in aging is different between men and women 44 , our sample consisted only of older women from the community, which may limit generalizability to other populations. Another limitation of the present study is the fact that it did not explore the participants' diet, as it has been proven that a high-fat diet can interfere with blood leptin concentrations 37 , compared to a standard diet.…”

Sex-based differences in clinical and radiological presentation of patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis: a cross-sectional study

“…One possible explanation is that gender differences in muscle atrophy play a role. Studies have shown that aging affects muscle function more in women than in men, and that skeletal muscle attachment quality is lower in older women compared to men [ 15 ]. It is generally accepted that the paraspinal muscles are the dynamic stabilizers of the spine column [ 16 ].…”