Sex differences in autoimmune disease.
Female/male ratios of autoimmune diseases range from 10:1 to 1:3, with similar severity between the sexes. Men and women respond similarly to the infection and to vaccination, arguing against intrinsic sex differences in immune response. In autoimmune-like illnesses caused by environmental agents sex discrepancy is explained by differences in exposure. Endogenous hormones could cause sex discrepancy if their effect is a threshold off-on switch rather than quantitatively variable. X-inactivation and imprinting could cause sex discrepancy. Other possibilities include chronobiologic differences and pregnancy and menstruation biologies in which men differ from women.
Lockshin
M D
MD
Barbara Volcker Center for Women and Rheumatic Disease Joan and Sanford Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY 10021, USA. LockshinM@hss.edu
D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones